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JESUS OF NAZARETH: 



HIS LIFE FOR THE YOUNG 



JOSEPH P. THOMPSON, D.D. 



JEHuBttatelj. 



'^U^ 




S/^J''-- 



BOSTON : 
JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY, 

(Late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co.) 

1876. 






Copyright, 1875, 
BY JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO. 



1 



IR^AHUNGr* 



Frankun Press: 

STKREO-n-PBD AND PrINTKO BY 

Rand, A\-kry, & Co. 



ABOUT YOUNG PEOPLE. 



"But you must not call this a book for young people," said a Ger- 
man friend to whom I read these pages : " it is a book for me, for grown- 
up men and women ; though perhaps you have young people in America 
who are forward enough to understand it. At any rate, you bad better 
say, for the young in years and the young in heart." 

Now, I am far from pretending, that in the United States, or in 
England, youth of twelve or fifteen are more advanced in general 
knowledge than their fellows in Germany. In some things, commonly, 
they do not know as much. But I believe that the training in the 
Bible which children receive in good families in England, Scotland, and 
the United States, and in the Sunday school as conducted in these 
countries, puts them far in advance of French and German children in 
knowledge of the Scriptures, and in ability to understand and to dis- 
cuss subjects that grow out of the stories and the doctrines of the 
Bible. And, besides this, they come earlier to the habit of thinking, 
talking, and judging of such subjects for themselves. 

This is not a book for children, but for youth, — say in the years 
from twelve to twenty; and such young persons do not need what is 
called " children's talk," but language which is simple and clear, though 
it may speak of things that are deep and sometimes a little hard to be 
miderstood. For the mind, as well as for the body, youth is the grow- 



iv ABOUT YOUNG PEOPLE. 

ing time of life ; and mind as well as body needs its exercise, its gym- 
nastics, to bring it on in health and strength. There are some chapters 
in this book simple enough for a child of ten years ; and there are 
others that a youth of fifteen may have to read over tvN^o or three times 
before he will find out all that they mean. This grows out of the sub- 
ject; and it could not well be otherwise. And I think a bright youth 
would rather read a book that sets him thinking, and helps him for- 
ward, than one that is too simple and easy. He is glad and proud to be 
treated as one who is able to think, who wishes to know, and who is 
willing to study in order to learn. It is in this view that the charming 
book, "The Bible for Young People," is written, which has been trans- 
lated into English from the Dutch of Dr. H. Ooort and Dr. T. Hooykass ; 
simple in style, but sometimes deep in meaning, and calling, perhaps, 
for the help of parents and teachers. This book, like that, may serve 
for a useful study in the Bible-class and around the family table. A 
guide who would lead others up to the best points of view should keep 
a little before and above them. And the best book for the young is a 
guide that leads them on higher and higher, making the way plain and 
pleasant as they go. Above all, they need such a guide in religion. 

How is it in other things ? I remember, that, when T was a boy of 
fourteen, my teachers had already put me far on in French, in history, 
and in physical science ; that in Latin I had read Cesar, Sallust, Virgil, 
and Cicero, and, in Greek, Xenophon, and parts of Homer; that I had 
studied algebra and geometry, logarithms and trigonometry ; had calcu- 
lated eclipses of the sun and moon, had measured the height of steeples 
and towers, and learned the use of instruments of mathematics and of 
physics : but I do not imagine that I was one whit brighter or more 
advanced than the average boy of that age is to-day. I am sure that the 
youth who is pursuing such studies at school can understand any thing 
in this book if he will only try. 



ABOUT YOUNG PEOPLE. 



And -why should he not try to master the life of the most wonderful 
person who ever lived? — a life made up of all that is pure and noble 
and true ; a life of good words and good deeds ; a life around which has 
gathered so much of history, of geography, of manners and customs, of 
poetry, of art, of government, of all that interests the student, and which 
is the source of ideas and principles that concern every man in his own 
higher life. The life of Jesus presents some difficulties in itself ; and 
men who do not seem to have fairly understood it have made much 
difficulty and controversy about it. Without entering into disputes upon 
questions of fact or of doctrine, this book seeks to present the life as it 
was, to make real whatever carries the evidence of being true ; and it 
is my hope, that all who read it will find in it such a view of Christ 
the Teacher as shall satisfy their minds, and such a view of Christ 
the Saviour as shall win their hearts, and bless their lives. 



Berlin, Christmas, 1874. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 
THE SONG OF THE ANGELS. 

Falling Stars— The Angel Vision neither a Dream nor a Fable — The 
Shepherds could not have invented such Words — No Jew would 
have thought of a Saviour for All Men alike 3 

CHAPTER II. 

BETHLEHEM AND THE MANGER. 

Site of Bethlehem — Flocks kept in the Fields at Night — The Angels' 
Song — The Inn and the Manger described — The Crowd at Bethlehem 

— The Birth of Jesus 9 

CHAPTER III. 

THE NAME JESUS. 

The Name ready for the Babe — Nazareth described — Mary and Joseph — 
The Annunciation— Mary's Modesty and Prudence confirm her Story 

— Her Song — How the Visit of the Angel became known . . .1.5 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE PROPHECIES FULFILLED. 

Handel's Messiah — The Flattery of Eastern Kings— The Prophet Isaiah 
— The Hebrews never gave Divine Honors to a King— The Christ 
Child promised, and Bethlehem foretold as his Birthplace — How 
this Prophecy was fulfilled 23 

CHAPTER V. 

JESUS TAKEN TO THE TEMPLE. 

A Baptism in Switzerland — How Mary looked and felt — From Bethle- 
hem to Jerusalem — Simeon's Blessing — Mary's Modesty and Faith — 
The Sistine Madonna 29 

vii 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



CHAPTEK VI. 

THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 

Where was the EastV— TVTio were the Magi? — Daniel and the Jews 
at Babylon — New Stars — Periodical Stars — Kepler's Discovery — 
God's Use of Nature in the Rainbow — The Star not a Miracle — Mat- 
thew only reports the Story of the Magi — Legends and Pictures of 
the Wise Men — Their Tomb at Cologne — Moral of the Story 



CHAPTER VII. 

A CHAPTER OF WONDERS. 

The Love of Wonders Natural, but often abused — Faith a Real Faculty 
— Should be educated — Bible not a Book of Wonders— How to 
know True Miracles — The Wondei-s of Jesus' Birth were natural to 
such a Character 52 



CHAPTER VIIL 

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 

Egypt described— Character of Herod — His attempts to murder Jesus — 
The Journey of Joseph and Mary — A Sketch of the Road — Legend 
of the Tree and the Fountain 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE EARLY HOME OF JESUS. 

Death of Herod — Di\-ision of Palestine — Reasons for going to Nazareth 
—Joseph's Home— Scenery and History of Nazareth . . . . &i 



CHAPTER X. 

THE FAMILY OF JESUS. 

Joseph — The Brothers and Sisters of Jesus — Their Eai'ly Want of Faith 

— Mary, her Character and Life 71 

CHAPTER XI. 

JESUS AT SCHOOL. 

Teaching in a Jewish Family — Proverbs about Schools —A Syrian School 

— Colleges in Judn?a — AMiat Paul studied — What Jesus learned — 
The School of Nature — The School of Work — Trades among the 
Jews '5 



CONTENTS. IX 



CHAPTER XII. 

PAGE 
THE CHILD LOST AND FOUND. 

Boys of Twelve taken to the Temple — Great Crowds at the Passover — 
The Caravans — Mode of Travelling — How Jesus was lost — The 
Search for Him — The Rabbis in the Temple — Mode of Teaching — 
Boys as Pupils — Jesus and his Mother — His Heavenly Father — 
Jesus goes Home to Nazareth 82 



CHAPTER Xni. 

THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 

The River Jordan — Baptism among the Jews — John the Baptist — His 
Mode of Life — Tlie Messiah expected — John's Modesty — Jesus bap- 
tized by John — The Holy Dove 91 



CHAPTER XIV. 

JESUS IN THE DESEBT. 

The Wilderness of Judea— How did Jesus fast? — Was this a Miracle? 
The Jews' Notion of their Messiah — How Satan temj^ted Jesus — 
The Pangs of Hunger — Shipwreck, Siege of Paris, Famine in Per- 
sia, Siege of Jerusalem — Jesus uses the Bible against Satan — He is 
an Example for us — The Temptation to Show and Applause — 
Tempting God — Presumption may sin against Providence — The 
Temptation of Ambition — View from the Mountain — The Promise of 
Satan — The Triumph of Jesus — How Satan acted upon his Mind — 
God helped Jesus as Jesus helps us. — Note: Examples of Long Ab- 
stinence; Possibility of living without Food for Ten, Twenty, Thirty, 
Forty, and even Sixty Days 



CHAPTER XV. 

JESUS BEGINS HIS WORK. 

He returns to John — John points him out as the "Lamb of God"— An- 
drew, Peter, and John follow Him — The Call of Philip and Nathanael 
— They set out for Galilee — How Jesus drew them to Himself . . 115 



CHAPTER XVI. 

HOW DID JESUS LOOK? 

Did Luke paint his Portrait ? — His Features as a Jew — Power of his 
Eyes 124 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XVIL 

PAGE 
THE WEDDING SURPRISE. 

.Testis was not a Hermit — The Essenes — Jesus lived in the "World as he 
found it — His Social Feeling — His Religion is Cheerful — A Jewish 
Wedding — The Wine gives out — His Mother's Anxiet}' and Faith — 
The Reply of Jesus — His Order to the Servants — The Surprise of the 
Master and the Guests —Jesus a Friend to the Familv . . .127 



CHAPTER xvnr. 

THE WHIP. 

Sacredness of the Teinple — Fonn and Size of the Temple as rebuilt by 
Herod — Traffic in the Court of the Gentiles — The Authority of a 
Prophet — The Anger of Jesus — The People demand his Authority 
— He predicts his Resurrection Ido 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Christ's first pupil- 

Description of Jerusalem — The Sanhedrim — The Pharisees — Nicodemus 
— His Honest Search for Truth— TMiy he was puzzled —Jewish No- 
tion of the Kingdom of God — What it is to be born again . . . 143 



CHAPTER XX, 

THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. 

Jerusalem after the Feast — Jesus retires to the Jordan — His Tribute to 
John the Baptist — His Journey to Samaria — The Valley of Shechem 
— Foimtains and Rivulets — Jacob's Well — The Samaritans and 
their Religion — The Dislike between them and the Jews — The 
Woman of Samaria — The Water of Life — The True Worship — "I 
am He " — Jesus teaches his Disciples to prepare for the Harvest — 
The Samaritans believe ir.i 



CHAPTER XXI. 

MOB AT NAZARETH. 

Jesus goes again to Nazareth — Political Hopes of the Jews — The Syna- 
gogue and its Worship — His First Sermon — His Gracious Wortls — 
He reproves their Vanity — Tlie Excitement and Rage of the People 
— The Fury of the Mob — How Jesus escaped 165 



CONTENTS. XI 



CHAPTER XXIL 

PAGE 
HIS LIFE AT CAPERNAUM. 

Jesus leaves Nazareth — Goes to the Home of his Disciples — The Lake 
and Plain of Geunesareth — Description of Capernaum — The Seat of 
Messiah's Kingdom — How Teachers were supported — Jesus preaches 
in Parables — His Discourse on the Bread of Life — His Social Life — 
His Disciples — The Honor of Capernaum — Hatred of the Pharisees — 
Unbelief of the People — Jesus leaves Capernaum — Its present Des- 
olation— Beauty of the Lake . 174 



CHAPTER XXni. 

SEBMON OS THE MOUNT. 

Jesus preached everywhere — Mount of Beatitudes — The Scene ; the 
Benedictions — How the Blessing comes — An L^nhappy Poverty and a 
Blessed Poverty— The True Mourners — How Sorrow is Blessed — 
Meekness not Weakness nor Cowardice, but the Gentleness of Love 
— The Pangs of Hunger and Thirst; the True Hunger of the Soul- 
Giving and receiving Kindness — Who are the Merciful? — How 
Heaven is foimd on Earth — Pure in Heart — What it is to see God — 
Children of God— Why the World hates Peacemakers — The Bless- 
ing in Persecution 190 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE lord's PRAYER, AND THE GOLDEN B.JTLE. 

Harmony of Nature and the Bible — The Golden Rule approached by 
Confucius, Hillel, and Plato — The Lord's Prayer for All Men — How 
Praj^er had been abused — Meaning and Beauty of the Lord's Prayer 
— It covers all Human Needs —Right Living must go M-ith Right 
Praying — Unselfish Love — How God loves — The Golden Rule — 
Against Human Nature; "Tit for Tat" — Sin to be condemned, but 
the Sinner to be saved 209 



CHAPTER XXV. 

VISITS TO JERUSALEM. 

Jerusalem under the Romans — People eager for a Deliverer— Contempt 
of Romans for Jesus — Religious Pride and Fanaticism — False 
Christe— Hatred of Scribes and Pharisees for Jesus — Attempts to 
stone Him — The Mob raised against Him — " O Jerusalem ! " . .220 



XU CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXVL 

PAGE 
THE PARABLES OF JESUS. 

Meaning and Use of Parables — His Discourses in John — Only Thirty 
Parables given — Kingdom of Heaven his Theme — Parable of the 
Sower — How the Kingdom maybe received — How it is rejected — 
The Prodigal — Parables on Prayer — Words of Mercy and of Warn- 
ing 230 

CHAPTER XXVII, 

THE MlEtACLES OF JESUS- 

A Few only recorded — Reason should be used upon such Facts — Science 
changes its Language — Laws of Nature not Original Powers, or 
Causes — A Miracle may come from a Higher Sphere — Nature may 
be in the Hands of a Spiritual Power — Vastness of the Universe — 
May be Good Reasons why God should show his direct Power to Men 
— The Miracles of Jesus agree with his Character — The Evangelists 
were True Witnesses — Miracles upon Nature wrought directly by 
the will of Jesus — Power of Spirit over Matt«r — Miracles on the 
Bodies of Men — Power over Evil Spirits — Raising the Dead — His 
Miracles were open and for Good Ends — Wliy Miracles are not con- 
tinued 242 

CHAPTER XXVni. 

THE TKANSFIGURATION. 

The Life of Jesus a Wonder greater than liis Miracles — Moses and Elijah 
wrought Miracles; but theirs was a Gift for the Time: the Power of 
Jesus was in and of himself — The Transtiguration— Fault in Ra- 
phael's Picture — Not a Dream nor Vision — Reality of the Scene as 
described — Its Moral Meaning — The Disciples were downcast at the 
Thought of Jesus' Death — Jesus joined Two Natures an«l Two 
Worlds — The Transftguration a Key to the Old Testament and to the 
Future of the Church — It makes Heaven real as a Home— A View 
of Mont Blanc and the Tarantaise 257 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE FRIEXDS OF JESUS. 

From the Divine to the Human — Jesus as Healer, Consoler, Friend — His 
own Need of Friends — Some of his Disciples were Rich — Bethany 
described — Martha the Housekeeper, Mary the Learner; their Charac- 
ters described — The Death of Lazarus — Jesus in the Family »— His 
Love for Woman 269 



CONTENTS. Xlll 



CHAPTER XXX. 

PAGE 
THE LAST JOURNEY. 

JesTis widely known — His Patriotism — He visits Phoenicia and the 
Countries East of Jordan — Cesarea Philippi ; its Scenery, its History, 
its People, its Temples and Palaces — Jesus predicts his Death — The 
Plots against Him — Crowds follow Him — Strength and Tenderness 
of his Preaching — His Moral Heroism — "Worldly Ambition of his 
Disciples — The Blind Men at Jericho — Zaccheus — Jesus arrives at 
Bethany 278 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST. 

False Ideas of Honor and Greatness — The Greatness of Virtue — Human 
Praises Fickle — The Crowds at Bethany to see Jesus and Lazarus — 
Jesus as King — Excitability of Orientals — The Multitude spread 
their Garments in the Way— Jesus weeps over Jerusalem — This Grief 
a Sign of his Character and his Mission — His Entrance into the City 
and the Temple — Hosannas of the Children — The Place of Wailing, 292 



CHAPTER XXXn. 

JESUS THE CHRIST. 

The Last Week — Jesus deals in Rebukes and Warnings — He denounces 
the Pharisees; answers the Herodians, Sadducees, and Lawyers — 
Jesus the True Christ, the Son of God — The Greeks would see Jesus 
— His Mission to the World to be fulfilled through his Death — The 
Conflict and Triumph of his Soul — The Voice from Heaven — The 
Word of Christ as Judge — The Destruction of Jerusalem, and the 
Day of Judgment 304 



CHAPTER XXXin. 

THE LAST SUPPER, 

Preparations for the Passover — The Passover a Family Feast — The 
Twelve were a Family to Jesus — He calls them " Friends " — Their 
Defects and Merits — True Principles of Reform — Jesus' Doctrine of 
Humanity nobler than Science or Democracy — Manhood not Egotism, 
Brothei'hood not Communism — He had Personal Preferences among 
his Disciples — He uses Social Qualities for Moral Reforms — His Wis- 
dom as Philosopher and Reformer — Jesus founded an Aristocracy of 
Character and a Democracy of Love — The French Convention, and 
the Christian Church— Jesus helps Men to rise — His Doctrine of 



XIV CONTEXTS. 



Unity — The Supper as a Memorial — Jesus as the Savioiu* — We oh- 
serve Birth-days, not Death-days ; but his Death cro-wns his Life — 
The Paschal Lamb and the Living Bread — How Jesus and his Disci- 
ples sat at the Table — He washes their Feet — The Traitor — The Last 
Prayer and Promises of Jesus 319 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

GETHSEMAXE. 

The Hymn after the Supper — The Sad and Silent "Walk down to the 
Kedron — The Mount of Olives and its Gardens — Jesus yearned for 
Sympathy, yet needed Solitude — God his only' Solace — His First 
Prayer ; the Disciples sleeping — His Anguish was not Weakness nor 
Fear — He would not escape when he might — His Self-Control — The 
Assaults of Satan through Nervous Prostration — He excuses the 
Weakness of his Disciples — His Prayer of Entreaty followed by Sub- 
mission and bj^ Victory —The Coming of the Band — The Calmness 
and Dignity of Jesus — Peter's Rashness — Jesus rests in his Divine 
Consciousness, and yields to his Father's Will — Dismay of his Disci- 
ples ; their Sudden Panic — Proofs of the Narrative from Internal 
Analysis — Contrasts of Gethsemane and the Cross — He suffered for 
us, and taught us how to sorrow and how to submit . . . .338 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE JEWISH TRIAL. 

The Haste of the Sanhedrim — Office of High Priest — Annas and Caia- 
phas — Form of a Jewish House — The First Hearing before Caiaphas 
— His Dignified Bearing — John at the Palace — Peter's Temptation 
and Denial — Meeting of the Sanhedrim — Tlie False Witnesses — 
Jesus avows himself the Christ, and predicts that he shall come as 
Judge— Was He not Divine? . - 354 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

PILATE AND HEKOD. 

Judea then governed by Pontius Pilate — His Character and Rule — Pilate 
tries first to be just to Jesus ; next, to get rid of the Case — Jesus 
avows himself a King, his Kingdom "not of this World " — Pilate 
acquits him, then sends him to Herod 3(>4 



CONTENTS. XV 



CHAPTER XXXVn. 

PAGE 
JESUS, OB BAKABBAS. 

Pilate declares Jesus innocent, but lacks Courage to stand by the Right — 
He vacillates, and so puts himself in the Power of the Mob — A 
Choice between Jesus and Barabbas — Jesus is scourged, mocked by 
Soldiers — " The Sou of God " — The Mob demand his Death — " Let 
Him be crucified I " 373 



CHAPTER XXXVni. 

THE TRAITOR. 

Pwemorse of Judas — He was not at first a Deceiver — His Worldly Hopes 
disappointed — Yet he was shocked when Jesus was condemned — 
His Testimony to the Innocence of his Master 380 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE LAST HOUR. 

The Brutalities of a Crucifixion — Incidents of Pity — The Cup of Myrrh 
— Form of the Cross — Jesus sinks under his — The Change from 
Monday to Friday, from Triumph to Shame — The Wailing of the 
Women — Jesus Calm, Tender, and Dignified — He is nailed to the 
Cross — "Father, forgive them" — The Inscription — The Thieves at 
his Side — His Mother and John — The Hour of Darkness — The Cry 
of Anguish — It is finished 38,'^ 



CHAPTER XL. 

HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD. 

Life and Death Natural and Universal — a Resurrection not a Probable 
Event: still it is possible to God, and Moral Reasons may make it 
Credible — In viewing such Evidence we should be cautious but not 
cavilling — The Death of Jesus Avas a Wrong that required to be 
righted — Jesus believed that he should rise — Was this an Illusion? — 
His Resurrection was capable of being proved, if it really did take 
place — The Death and Burial of Jesus settled as Facts — The Fright 
of the Disciples made them forget his Promise — The Enejuies of 
Jesus watched his Body — Absurd Notion that his Disciples would 
steal it — The Women came to the Tomb — Fright and Grief of Mary 
Magdalene — Coming of Peter and John — Mary and the Gardener — 
The Story of the Guard ; its Evident Falsity — The Walk to Emmaus 
— A Scene in Spain "in Times of Persecution — The Room at Jerusa- 
lem, with Jesus in the Midst — Jesus and Thomas — The Evidence 



XVI CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

reviewed — The Witnesses not deceived nor deceivers — The Resur- 
rection not a Myth— The Fact, and nothing else, accounts for the 
Narrative — The Incidents of Mary and Thomas carry the Evidence 
of their own Truth 394 



CHAPTER XLI. 

ONE liAST LOOK AKD WORD. 

Jesus revisits the Sea of Galilee, and Bethany — He retains his Human 
Feelings — Earth and Heaven united — The Apostles at the Lake — 
Peter and others go a-tishing — Their Fruitless Toil — A Stranger on 
the Shore encourages them to try again — Their Net is filled — John 
recognizes Jesus — Peter jumps overboard, and swims to Him ; the 
Rest bring the Net — A Meal is ready — Jesus questions Peter, and 
probes him — Gives him his Commission, predicts his Death — Peter's 
Curiosity about John — Jesus reproves it — Each Disciple must stand 
in his own Lot 410 



CHAPTER XLIL 

IJf THE HIGHEST. 

The Ascension of Jesus a Necessary Sequel to his Resurrection — He could 
not, like Lazarus, return to the Grave — Why He did not vanish 
— Wliy He did not appear to the Sanhedrim — His Kingdom must rest 
upon Moral Authority — Scene of the Ascension — The Kingdom 
come 42o 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

The Fountain at Nazareth 67 ^-. 

The Youth of Jesus 72 

An Omental School 77 

The Annual Journey to Jerusalem . 82 

John preaching in the "Wilderness 93 

Jesus in the Desert 99 

The First Disciples * . 121 

The Marriage at Cana 1 30 

The Temple at the Time of Christ 130 

Market in the Court of the Gentiles 139 

Jesus clearing the Temple 141 

"Destroy this Temple and in Three Days I will raise it up" . 142 

The Pharisees 145 

The Woman of Samaria 161 

The Synagogue at Kazareth 167 

They drag Jesus to the Brow of the Hill 171 

The Maniac in the Tombs 181 

The Woman who touched His Garment 183 

He eats with Publicans and Sinners 185 

I WILL MAKE YOU FiSHERS OF MeN 186 

The Widow who gave All that she had 215 

Jesus stoned at Jerusalem 226 

Jesus preaching from a Boat 233 

xvii 



XVIU LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

He set a Little Child in the ;Midst of them 270 

Jesus heals Mary Magdalene 271 

Mary hath chosen the Good Part 274 

She anoints the Feet of Jesus 275 

Jesus goes before them to Jerusalem 278 

Temple at Panias 281 

The Pity of Jesus for Sinners 285 

*' Let him that is without sin cast the first stone." 

Jesus and Little Children 28fi 

Blind Bartimeus 289 

Zaccheus 21X) 

Jesus leaving Bethany 295 

Entry into Jerusalem 298 

Children crying Hosanna 302 

" Bender unto Cjesar the Things that are Cesar's " . . . .308 
"There shall not be left One Stone upon Another" . . . 3lfi 

"Take, eat" 331 

"One of you shall betray Me" 333 

"Let this Cup pass from Me" 342 

The Arrest 347 

Jesus before Caiaphas 357 

Peter at the Fire 359 

Jesus mocked in the Court 3<v^ 

Jesus before Pilate 367 

"Not this Man, but Barabbas!" 375 

The Scourging 37G 

Jesus mocked by the Soldiers 377 

Jesus bearing His Cross 384 

They cast Lots for His Vesture 389 

The Hour of Darkness 3i»*J 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 



His Life for the Young. 



r 



JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE SONG OF THE ANGELS. 



One night, when I was a child, my mother roused 
me from sleep to show me a strange sight in the heavens, 
— the stars falling from the sky. All the neighbors were 
up, and at their windows or on the street, gazing with 
wonder and fear at a spectacle, the like of which they had 
never seen, and which nobody could account for. The 
stars fell so thick and fast that it seemed as if the whole 
sky was tumbling to the ground ; and, as some of the 
stars looked like balls of fire, many feared that the end 
of the world had come, and that every thing would be 
burnt .up. But such a shower of meteors is no longer a 
strange and startling sight: it may now be seen once or 
twice every year.^ Astronomers have taught us that it 

^ Usually in August ; sometimes also in November and in April. 

3 



JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 



has a natural cause ; and experience has shown that it 
brings no evil to the earth or its inhabitants. Even a child 
may look upon falling stars without fear, and with the same 
delight with which he sees the northern lights flashing 
through the sky. 

Long, long ago, there was seen at dead of night a sight 
in the heavens, more strange and startling than this of the 
falhng stars. It was then beheld for the first time, and 
has never again been seen. No astronomer can explain it ; 
no natural cause can account for it. But though it fiUed 
those who witnessed it with awe and terror, so that " they 
were sore afraid,"^ instead of a warning of coming evil, 
it brought to them such a promise of peace and joy, as 
never before nor since was uttered in the ears of men. 
What they saw was not a shower of meteors dropping 
silently through the air, and vanishing in the distant 
darkness ; but living forms brighter than the brightest 
stars, hovering right around them, and singing in won- 
drous strains this heavenly song : " Glory to God in the 
highest, and on earth peace, good-wiU toward men." ^ 

This vision was no dream, fancy, or fable. It did not 
appear to one or two persons lying in their beds, as the 
forms of Christmas-trees, of birds, flowers, and angels, 
sometimes come to children in their sleep. It did not come 
as a fancy to the brain of a poet or a painter. Like the 

1 Luke ii. 9. 2 Lujj^e ii. U. 



THE SONG OF THE ANGELS. 



beautiful images which we so often find in songs and 
pictures. It did not burst upon men suddenly awakened 
out of sleep, and too bewildered to trust their own eyes and 
ears. It came to shepherds who were accustomed to be 
awake aU night, watching their flocks in the field; to 
men who could not easily be deceived or frightened by 
any thing that might appear to them in the open air, — men 
who were too simple-minded to make up such a story, 
and who showed their honesty in going at once to Beth- 
lehem to find the child, and in telling aU their townsmen 
what they had seen and heard. To us this should no 
longer seem so strange ; for the life of Jesus shows that 
the birth of this most wondrous Person was worthy to 
be so announced from heaven. But the story also carries 
its own proof in the message that the shepherds brought. 
The words which they reported from the angels were such 
as these humble rustics could never have imagined, and 
no human mind had ever conceived, — peace and good- 
will among all men throughout the whole world, through 
the coming of a Saviour. 

When we reflect that these men were Jews, who bore 
no good-will to the Romans who then ruled over them, 
who looked upon all foreign nations with contempt and 
bigotry, and who expected that their Messiah would 
come as a prince and a warrior, to give them independ- 
ence, and make them the ruling nation of the world, — 



6 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

in one word, when we consider that these shepherds, 
because of the narrow and ignorant circle in which they 
moved, were so much the more likely to feel the bigotr}^ 
of their race and their religion, — we shall see how impossi- 
ble it was for them to have imagined words so sublime 
as this promise of peace in all the earth, words so lovelv 
as these tidings of good-will toward meu and of joy to all 
people. It is easier to believe that angels brought the 
tidings, than that the simple shepherds, or the plain writers 
of the Gospels, made up such a song. The best hopes 
of the world depend upon its being a message from heaven. 
The words are a greater wonder than the way in which 
they are said to have been given. The theme belongs 
to heaven ; there is a ring to the words that is not of this 
world: and it is only when we take their tidings to be 
a promise from God, that we can make them real and true, 
and can find in them that comfort and hope for mankind 
that every one feels to be there. 

Amid the sadness and sorrow that war, oppression, and 
crime had brought upon the world, the heathen poets 
had sighed for a golden age of peace and purity long ago 
lost, with a vague hope that the stars would bring it 
round again after thousands of }-ears. But here is the 
promise of the gospel age of ^' peace and good-will" to 
begin at once, and to grow till it shall reach all men, 
and shall fill the earth. And with the promise of peace 



THE SONG OF THE ANGELS. 



was the means by which it should be brought about, — 
through a Saviour bringing good-will and teaching good- 
will to all men. We feel that shepherds and fishermen 
never made up thoughts and words so far above poets 
and philosophers. They could not have dreamed a dream 
so far above the Golden Age. They must have been 
taught from heaven, by the song of angels. Heaven alone 
could have foreseen .that such universal peace and joy 
should spring from the birth of a little child, tlien '' lying 
in a manger." Heaven alone could have breathed such 
a blessing of good- will upon all the people of the earth. 

At that time none but the Jews knew and worshipped 
the true God ; and yet the Jews, so fiir from making their 
knowledcje of God a reason for lovinc: their fellow-men 
and carrying God's love to them all upon equal terms, 
made this the rather a reason for separating themselves 
from other people in pride and scorn, and almost in hatred. 
But this song of the angels put into the mouths of these 
plain, ignorant, Jewish shepherds, the idea that all men 
should be brought to dwell together in peace and good- 
will, to the glory of one and the same God; and this 
through the coming of the Saviour, not to set up the 
Jews in a kingdom separate from other nations, and above 
them, but to bring to all people alike the same "good 
tidings of great joy." It was for this that 'Hhe angel 
of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord 



8 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



shone round about them." ^ It was for this that the 
still air was stirred with that wondrous song, as " a 
multitude of the heavenly host " swept down from the 
skies to bless the earth, then back to heaven, to give 
" Glory to God in the highest." 

1 Luke ii. 10, 11. 



CHAPTER II. 

BETHLEHEM AND THE l^IANGER. 

Upon the map of Palestine, about six miles south of 
Jerusalem, is Bethlehem ; known also as the " City of 
David," because here the famous king and poet of Israel 
was born. The town is built upon a long, narrow ridge, 
which rises three hundred feet above the level of Jeru- 
salem. In the neighborhood are the great reservoirs made 
by Solomon, to collect the water of the springs and the rain, 
which was then conveyed to the capital by an aqueduct. 

Though Jerusalem is so near, it is hidden from Bethlehem 
by the hills ; but about half-way between the two cities 
there is a fine view of both from the ridge crowned by the 
convent of Mar Elias. We should not call Bethlehem any 
thing more than a village : it has barely three thousand 
inhabitants, and consists of but a few score of houses packed 
closely together, somewhat in the form of a triangle, with 
crooked, narrow streets ; the whole surrounded by a stone 
wall, the circuit of which one could make on foot in less 
than an hour. But there is a charm in the situation of 



10 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

Bethleliem : standing alone, it commands such fine views of 
the hills and valleys around, especially on the east, looking 
toward the mountains that border upon the Dead Sea. 
Here, below the terraced gardens of figs and vines that 
wind around the hill, are fair open fields that slope away 
to a lovely valley, which with its waving grain, and its 
little groves of olives and pomegranates,- wears the aspect 
of an Oriental garden. 

The farmers in Palestine do not, as in the United States, 
live alone in houses wide apart ; for the roving bands of 
robbers, and the frequency of wars in Eastern countries, 
make it unsafe to live away from a settlement. But they 
have their homes together in villages and towns, where at 
night the wall or a guard gives protection ; and by day they 
go out, often to a distance of miles, to till the ground. The 
land is not divided off by fences into separate fields, but 
stones are set up here and tliere as landmarks between one 
man's property and another's. Hence there are no enclosed 
pastures, as in New England, for sheep and cattle ; but these 
are kept in the open fields, and must be watched over by 
men and dogs, to keep them from straying, and to defend 
them from robbers and beasts of prey. At night the sheep 
are driven into a common fold witliin the walls of the town. 
Each shepherd calls his own sheep by name, and '• they know 
his voice, and follow him ; " ^ but in mild weather they are 

1 John X. 1-6. 



BETHLEHEM AND THE MAXGER. 11 

kept out all night in the open air. Indeed, across the valley 
from Bethlehem there is a grassy nook, or ledge, so sheltered, 
that at this day shepherds stay out there with their flocks 
all night in mid-winter ; and just so were the " shepherds 
abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by 
night," ^ when " the glory of the Lord shone round about 
them," and the song of the angels rang through the air. 

The traveller may chance to-day to see the sliepherds 
watching their flocks upon those sunny slopes, and to hear 
them piping their simple melodies; and this may help to 
make that midnight scene more real and present to his fancy. 
But no music of earth can recall that heavenly strain which 
was uttered once, and once only, for all people and all time ; 
yet it seems to have wrapped the world around with the 
warm, soft, living breath of divine love. It floated away to 
the south, into the desert of Arabia, and breathed into the 
law of Sinai the tones of love ; it floated away to the north, 
to the mountain where Abraham led Isaac to be offered up, 
and breathed over Golgotha the odor of a divine sacrifice ; 
it floated eastward over the sea of death, and seemed to stir 
even its drear and dismal waters with a breath of hope ; it 
floated westward over land and sea, carrying to pagan and 
barbarian nations, and to people yet unborn, the message of 
good-will and peace. It came in the night, teaching that 
God's love wakes and watches over our darkness, our dan- 

1 Luke ii. 8. 



12 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

gers, our sorrows, and our fears ; it came to shepherds, plain, 
rough men in the humblest calling, teaching that God stoops 
to the lowest, and can make the poor, the ignorant, the out- 
hangers of human society, the witnesses and messengers of 
his salvation to the world. 

When the song had ceased, and the angels were gone 
away from them into heaven, " the shepherds said one to 
another, Let us go now over unto Bethlehem, and see this 
thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made 
known unto us. And they came with haste, and found 
Mary and Joseph, and the babe Ipng in a manger."^ In 
those days there were no hotels such as the traveller now 
finds in every town, where by paying so much he can have 
food and lodging, and the comforts of home ; but travellers 
took with them their own provision and cooking-utensils, 
and fodder for their beasts ; and at noon or night halted at a 
caravansary built upon the roadside, or just within the gates 
of a town. This caravansary was simply a court, or yard, 
walled in on all sides, but open above, and having in the 
middle a raised platform upon which travellers sat to take 
their meals, and where also they made their beds at night. 
This platform, which sometimes had an upper story, was 
really the "inn ; " and round about it against the walls were 
little sheds, or stalls, for unloading the goods of the travellers, 
and for housing and feeding their beasts of burden. These 

1 Luke ii. 15-17. 



BETHLEHEM AND THE MANGER. 13 



stalls were furnished with cribs, or troughs, of stone or 
plastered brick ; and from these mangers the cattle were fed. 
At this particular time, Bethlehem was as much crowded as 
a country village is at an agricultural fair. A census, or an 
enrolment, of the whole Roman empire had been ordered by 
the Emperor Augustus ; ^ and by Roman law women and chil- 
dren had to be enrolled, as well as men.; while by Jewish 
custom, in order to be duly registered and taxed, every one 
had to go to the head city of his family or tribe. The two 
customs appear in this case : for Joseph, being of the house 
and lineage of David, went to the city of David ; and Mary 
must also be enrolled, and of course at the home of her 
ancestors. On reaching Bethlehem they found such a crowd, 
that the houses of all their friends were full ; and the plat- 
form of the inn was so occupied, that they could have no 
place : so Joseph and Mary took up their lodging in one of 
the side-stalls ; and when the babe was born they laid him in 

1 It appears from Roman authors (Tacitus, Annal.i. 11 ; Suetonius, 
Octav. 28, 101) that three times during his reign, at intervals of twenty 
years (a. u. 726, 746, and 767), the Emperor Augustus ordered a census 
of the whole people, and also that he prepared a statistical report of the 
empire, including Judea as one of its provinces. There is good reason 
also for believing that Quirinius was twice governor of Syria, and that 
the first time would correspond with the second census ordered by the 
emperor. Or, since it took a long time to complete a census, it may be 
that the census begun under another was finished under Quirinius, and 
so went by his name. (See in Zumpt's Commentaliones Epiyraphi- 
cce.) 



14 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



a manger as his cradle.^ Though they were poor, this was 
not because of their poverty, but because all the room of 
the inn was taken up before they came ; and no doubt the 
manger was made sweet and clean for the little babe to lie 
in ; and there he lay all nicely wrapped in the fresh white 
clothes that had been prepared for him, when the shepherds, 
as if they had borrow'ed the wings and the words of the 
angels, came rushing in to hail him a^ " the Saviour, Christ 
the Lord." 

^ Luke ii. 1-5. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE NAME JESUS. 



What shall be the baby's name? is almost the first 
question after a child is born. Sometimes this is settled at 
once, by the child's taking the name of a parent or grand- 
parent, an uncle or aunt, almost as a matter of course. But 
all the family names may have been used already for other 
childi-en, or none may seem good enough or pretty enough 
for this new pet ; and so names from the Bible, from his- 
tory, from poetry, and all sorts of fancy names, are pro- 
posed, thought over, and talked over, until it seems as if 
the poor little thing would at last have to go forth a name- 
less wanderer into the wide world. The Jews commonly 
used single names ; and, when they gave double or com- 
[ pound names, these were either to mark the son of such 
j and such a man, or the hope, the fear, the desire, or some 
I other strong feeling, of the parent or the child ; or some 
I great event of the time, or some pious feehng toward God. 
But there was no trouble about naming this babe of Beth- 
lehem. 

I 



16 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

Mary his mother had his name all ready for him when 
he came. And this was not a name that she had thought 
of or made up, or that any of her friends had proposed; 
but it had been given to her from heaven. Mary was a 
modest, pious maiden, of a plain but good family, that 
lived in the town of Nazareth, in the district of Galilee, 
more than seventy miles away to the north of Bethlehem. 
Nazareth was near the country of the Phoenicians, who were 
idolaters, about half-way between the Sea of Tiberias and 
the Mediterranean, and near the great routes of the cara- 
vans ; so that all sorts of people resorted to it in the way 
of travel or of trade, and it came to have a rather bad 
name. No doubt too much has been made of the few 
hints about Nazareth in the New Testament. It was 
neither the least important nor the worst town in Palestine ; 
yet for some reason it is spoken of as if it was no credit 
to any one to hail from such a place.^ But this might be 
said of some towns at the "West, and even in New England. 
If Nazareth had a bad name abroad, it had also its good 
people ; and such might be even the more known and hon- 
ored for the contrast of their goodness with the lack of 
piety in others. It would seem that the gentle, decorous, 
and devout manners of Mary had caused her to be 
respected and beloved by all who knew her ; and we know 
that at an early age she was betrothed to a most worthy 

1 John i. 46 ; Acts sxiv. 5. 



THE NAI^IE JESUS. 17 



and excellent man, Joseph by name, who was by trade a 
carpenter. The fact that Joseph and Mary, and afterwards 
their children, were so well known to their townsmen, is a 
sign that Nazareth was a place of no great size. It seems 
also to have had only one synagogue.^ 

The goodness and purity that we love and admire upon 
earth are loved also in heaven ; and Mary, who was by her 
family a descendant of David the great king of Israel, 
and by her training and character was a child of God, was 
chosen of God to be the mother of the long-promised 
Saviour of the world. One day, when she had gone alone 
for her devotions, she was startled by a strange, bright figure 
at her side, — so bright, so beautiful, appearing so suddenly 
but so gently, it must be an angel. She had often read in 
her Jewish Bible of angels coming with messages from God ; 
but she had never seen an angel, nor dreamed of one com- 
ing to her ; and now she trembled from head to foot, and 
was so agitated that she could not speak. But the angel 
spoke gently and kindly to her, told her not to be afraid, 
and then announced that she should become the mother of 
that wondrous child of whose coming she had so often read 
in the prophecies of the Bible ; and that this child would 
not be the son of Joseph, whom she was expecting to 
marry, but a special gift from God ; having no father upon 
earth, but sent to show to all men the love of his Father 
1 Matt. xiii. 54-58 ; Mark vi. 1-6. 



18 JESUS OF KAZAEETH. 

in heaven. As a sign of this, the child was to be called 
Jesus, — the Saviour.^ 

When Mary reported to Joseph this wonderful visit and 
promise of the angel, he was at first a good deal troubled ; 
but there came to him also in a dream an angel, who con- 
firmed all that Mary had told him. And Joseph loved and 
trusted Mary so much, that he at once took her under his 
protection as his espoused wife, and was ready to receive 
and care for this heaven-born child as if it were his own, 
and to appear before the world as the father of Jesus".^ 

Now, if Mary had been a person of a weak or vain mind, 
— if she had made up this story, or had been deceived by 
her own fancy, — she would have told the neighbors of the 
wonderful visitor that had come to her, and the wonderful 
promise he had brought her from heaven, and so have made 
herself an object of curiosity, of admiration, and of envy ; 
as one who had seen an angel, and was to receive the 
Christ-child. 

So, nowadays, a vain or weak young girl professes to 
have seen the Virgin, and gets fame and fortune from pil- 
grimages to the place of her vision. But Mary was humble, 
modest, discreet, and true ; and so far from publishing this 
wonder in the village, or even whispering it in confidence 
to her friends, she told it to no one in Nazareth excepting 
Joseph, who had a right to be informed of it, and to whom 

1 Luke i. 26-28. 2 ;^Xatt. i. 18-25. 



THE NAME JESUS. 19 



she had pledged herself in all the confidence of love. By 
marrying her at once, Joseph showed the most perfect trust 
in her vision, and the most tender care for her good name. 
We see in him a devout piety, and a true and manly love. 
Mary trusted in him also as she had already trusted in God ; 
and she guarded herself from reproach, first, by telhng 
Joseph all that had happened, and, next, by keeping it all 
from the gossiping neighbors. Yet her heart craved rest 
after such an excitement, and also the sympathy of a 
woman's heart in her sacred secret ; and so, leaving home for 
a while, she went away on a long journey to a secluded village 
in the hill-country of Judah, to visit her cousin Elisabeth, 
and get her pious and motherly sympathy and counsel. 

Most heartily did this good dame welcome her young kins- 
woman ; and before Mary could begin to tell her wondrous 
story, and the sacred errand upon which she had come, she 
hailed her with joy and with reverence as the mother of the 
Lord. 

At such a greeting, Mary broke forth into a song of praise, 
thanksgiving, and hope, in which the modesty of the virgin 
is blended with the tenderness of the mother, and the humil- 
ity and reverence of the saint. " My soul doth magnify the 
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For 
he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden ; for, 
behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 
For He that is mighty hath done to me great things ; and 



20 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him, 
from generation to generation. He hath showed strength 
with^his arm ; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination 
of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their 
seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the 
hungry with good things ; and the rich he hath sent empty 
away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance 
of his mercy ; as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and 
to his seed forever." ^ This song, and the whole story of 
Mary's visit, with her account of the coming of the angel, 
were probably written out at the time by Zacharias and 
Elisabeth, and afterwards given to the disciples of Jesus. 
Mary herself lived with the disciples after the death of 
Jesus, and no doubt then talked over the incidents of his 
birth and childhood. But at the first these wonders were 
confined to a small circle of the nearest relatives and friends ; 
and neither at the time, nor afterwards, did !Mary use them 
to get any notice or praise for herself. She was neither an 
enthusiastic girl, nor a dreamy mm ; but all that we read 
of her in the Gospels shows her to have been a woman 
of sober mind, and of good sense and feeling. She told her 
story with simple truth ; and in her song, while she speaks of 
the great blessing that had come to her, she does not boast 
herself, but praises God for his grace to the poor and the 
lowly. How differently do that story and song from the lips 

1 Luke i. 39-56. 



THE NAME JESTJS. 21 



of Mary read from the old fables of the heathen, and from the 
fables that have since been made up about the Virgin herself I 
Famous poems and romances have been written upon the 
legend or the fancy of a king's wooing a peasant-maid, and 
raising her to the palace and the throne, to become the 
mother of princes. The heathen have their fables also, of 
women who were wooed by the gods in disguise. But these 
run into common love-stories or earthly schemes, whereas a 
holy atmosphere surrounds this wonder in the life of Mary. 
Her joy was not that she should become a goddess, a saint, 
or a queen ; nor her son, a prince, a poet, a philosopher, or in 
any way a man of earthly riches or renown : but that she 
should be the mother of the "Son of God,"^ and that he 
should bring the mercy of God to the hearts of men as their 
Saviour. " Thou shalt call his name Jesus : for he shall save 
his people from their sins." ^ And so when the child from 
heaven came, and was laid in his strange crib beside the 
cattle in the stall, though his parents had no title to bestow 
upon him, and none of all the crowd in the inn cared for 
them or their babe, and none of the thousand descendants 
of the family of David then gathered at Bethlehem had a 
thought of him as their promised leader and restorer, yet his 
name was already known in heaven. It was on the lips of 
angels: they had told it to Mary and Joseph, they had 
taught it to the shepherds in their song; and his joyful 
1 Luke i. 35. 2 Matt. i. 21. 



22 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

mother, having no voice or choice of her own, could only 
repeat, " His name is Jesus, for so he was named by the 
angel before he was born." ^ And the name which was first 
given from heaven has become above every name on 
earth. 

1 Luke ii. 21. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE PKOPHECIES FULFILLED. 



Have you ever heard Handel's oratorio of " The Messiah " ? 
If not, do not fail to improve the first good opportunity of 
hearing the most wonderful chorus ever composed. If you 
have already heard it, the bare mention of it will cause it at 
once to resound in your ear ; not the " Grand Hallelujah 
Chorus," majestic, soulful, sublime, as this is, but the chorus 
that announces the birth of the Christ-child, in which the 
musical expression phrases every sentiment of the prophet so 
perfectly, that the very instruments speak the words, and 
seem to quiver with the emotions of wonder, joy, and adora- 
tion, to which they give utterance as from some living, breath- 
ing soul within them, that inspires and sways them all alike 
and all together. First, in softest notes of wonder, as in 
the hush of expectation, voice after voice, instrument after 
instrument, takes up the strain, like a lullaby of angels over 
the manger, " Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is 
given ; " next, like spray leaping up, comes the refrain, " And 
the government shall be upon his shoulder ; " then, overtak- 

23 



24 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

ing one another in this round of jov, all voices and instru- 
ments give in unison the choral, " And his name shall be 
called " — but now a pause, as though heaven and earth 
stood silent to hear ; then the whole chorus gathering itself 
into one mighty voice, and trumpets, stringed instruments, 
drums, c^Tubals, and the organ, uttering the same notes as 
with the very syllables of human speech, together ring out 
the names, " Wonderful I Coimsellor ! " till all the waves of 
sound rise and roll in majestic unison, " The mighty God ! 
The everlasting Father ! " then die away, gently murmuring, 
" The Prince of peace." For no other bu'th could such a 
song have been framed ; to no other child could such titles 
have been given. 

Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the 
prophet Isaiah proclaimed that this wonderful child should 
be born. It was no uncommon thing for the priests, 
diviners, and poets who surrounded an Eastern king, to 
flatter him with high-sounding titles, and even to ascribe 
to him divine names and honors. Thus the great kings of 
Egj-pt, Persia, and Assyria were addressed as sons of the 
gods, sometimes as themselves gods, often as the sun in 
the heaven, as the light of the world, as the source of all 
good to their people, as a terror to their enemies, as sacred 
and immortal.^ And in the same way the birth of a prince, 

^ See, for instance, the inscription of Pianchi Mer-Amon, in 
" Records of the Past," vol. ii. p. 81 ; and the Poem to Ramses IT.. 



THE PROPHECIES FULFILLED. 25 

the heir to the throne, was made the occasion of extrava- 
gant verses, greetings, and predictions. But the prophet 
Isaiah was not a courtier. He lived at Jerusalem under 
four successive kings of Judah ; but his life was spent 
in rebuking sin, and in warning kings and people of the 
judgments of God. He did not spare even good King 
Hezekiah, but threatened him with war upon his city, his 
kingdom, and his family.^ Yet, through all these warnings 
and woes, Isaiah kept up the promise and hope of a com- 
ing deliverer. But who and where was that deliverer? 
A century after Isaiah's death, the kingdom of Judah 
was destroyed, as he had said it should be ; and it has 
never since been restored. Isaiah wrote also of the return 
of the Jews from Babylon to their native land, through 
the favor of Cyrus the Persian king; but the blessings 
that he promised from that return were more spiritual 
than temporal ; and though he sometimes praises Cyrus by 
name, and calls him a shepherd anointed by the Lord,^ he 
does not once name Cyrus, nor in any way allude to him, 
by any such titles or honors as the Wonderful, the mighty 
God. It Vas never the custom of the Jews to ascribe 
divine names and honors to their kings : this sort of flattery, 
so common with other nations, in their eyes was blasphemy. 

given by Maspero in his volume, Du Genre Epistolaire cJiez leS Anciens 
Egyptiens, p. 103. 

1 Isa. xxxix. 6, 7. 2 jga. xliv. 28, xlv. 1. 



Ilk 



26 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



Much less would a Hebrew prophet give such names to a 
heathen prince, even though he should be an instrument 
of God for restoring the Jews to Jerusalem. Much as the 
Jews praised Cyrus for this, they could not look upon him 
as the wonderful child that Isaiah had promised. Their 
true deliverer was to be of their own race, and of the 
house of David. Hence these words of Isaiah could point 
only to their Messiah ; and they were thus quoted by Jewish 
rabbis long before Jesus was born. Through the transla- 
tion of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, made about three 
hundred years before Christ, these words were familiiir to 
the many Jews living out of Palestine Avho spoke tlie 
Greek tongue ; and so the whole Jewish nation were con- 
tinually looking for the appearing of this wondrous child ; 
for smce the prophecy was written there had not been 
born any one to whom such a description could apply, 
nor, indeed, any heir to the throne of David. 

This child, though born of an earthly family, should yet 
be the Lord of heaven and earth. The Hebrews called one 
the " father " of that which he had made, or which he 
possessed ; and this child is called the '* Father of eter- 
nity," because from eternit}^ he had lived the life of Gotl. 
But, though clothed with the power of that life as " the 
mighty God," he should come into the world as the 
" Prince of peace ; " and the song of the angels at Bethle- 
hem was the echo of the voice of the prophet, *» Peace on 
earth, good- will toward men." 



THE PROPHECIES FULFILLED. 2 1 

And not only the child himself was pointed out by 
prophecy, and named in heaven, so long before he came, but 
the place of his birth was expressly foretold by Micah: 
'' And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the 
least among the princes of Juda ; for out of thee shall 
come a Governor that shall rule my people Israel." ^ 

And it was in Bethlehem, seven hundred years after this 
saying, that Jesus was born. Yet the circumstances that 
led to his being born in Betldehem were such as no human 
mind could have foreseen. When this prophecy was 
written, the Jews were still an independent nation, having 
kings and laws of their own. They had soon after lost 
their kingdom ; and, though a remnant had come back from 
captivity, they had lived for ages under the Persians, the 
Greeks, and the Syrians : then, though the Maccabees had 
made a good fight for independence, yet years before Jesus 
was born the Jews had been conquered by the Romans ; 
and they were now ruled by a foreign king appointed from 
Rome. A Roman emperor had ordered a census to be 
taken ; and for this purpose — since the Jewish custom was 
that every one should be enrolled at the place of his family 
— Joseph and Mary had to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem.' 
And thus a series of events that came to pass through 
another nation, which had hardly begun to exist when the 
prophet Micah wrote ; events so distant, so many, and so 
^ Mic. V. 2. 2 See in chap. ii. p. 12. 



28 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

various, that nobody could have been so powerful as to 
produce them, so wise as to anticipate them, or so lucky 
as to guess them ; events which no one connected with 
Jesus had any concern in bringing about ; events which the 
Roman government certainly did not plan with any knowl- 
edge of this prophecy, or any thought of the Jewish 
Messiah, and which the Jews did not plan at all, — these 
events of a natural human history fulfilled an utterance of 
prophecy that had stood upon record for seven Imndn-d 
years. 



rTTAPTER V. 

JESUS TAKEN TO THE TEMPLE. 

OxE Sunday morning I went into a queer old church in 
one of the most secluded valleys of Switzerland, and, taking 
a seat upon* a rough bench that served for a pew, waited 
for the service to open. It was a lovely day; and as I 
looked out upon the grand old mountains whose snowy 
peaks seemed like pillars of alabaster holding up the blue 
arch of the sky, upon the forests that skirted their sides 
with green far up toward the glistening snow, upon the 
flowers that hung like a bright fringe around the base of the 
mountains, upon the great glacier that blocked up one side 
of the valley with its huge ribs of ice, from under which 
trickled a bright crystal stream, and upon tlie golden sun- 
shine that threw its glory over all, I thought at first that 
there was no need of a church in such a place, where God 
had built so splendid a temple with his own hands. But in 
a moment I felt that this was the very place for a church to 
stand, as a sign that men did think of God in the midst of 
his works, and acknowledge him as the Creator and Lord 

29 



30 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

of all. And so these humble villagers had thought, who 
built their church at the very top of the valley,, far above 
their houses and shops, that it might draw them away from 
work and noise and care, into its quiet and holy rest. 

How beautifully the church-bell sounded, and the echoes 
that came back from the mountains, and the organ as it 
struck the chords for the opening h}Tnn, which all Uie 
people, men, women, and children, began at once to sing ! 
But just at this moment a rustling at the church-door 
attracted me ; and I saw a procession coming in, made up 
of fathers and mothers bringing in their arms their babes to 
be baptized. These poor peasant-women were very plainly 
dressed. They wore coarse linsey gowns and clumsy wooden 
shoes ; but they looked so neat and tidy in their snow-white 
caps and pinafores, and seemed so trustful and happy, as 
each in turn handed her babe to the minister, that it 
brought tears to my eyes to see a piety so simple and so 
loving ; and I remembered, too, that He who " by his 
strength setteth fast the mountains *' watches over the lambs 
and the sparrows, and takes little children in his anns to 
bless them. Just like these peasant-women of the Swiss 
valley, just so simple and lowly in her dress, so simple and 
lowly ill her ways, and yet so sweet and hopeful in her tnisl 
and joy, was the peasant-girl of Nazareth, as, with all a 
mother's holy gratitude and love, she went up the mountain 
at Jerusalem to offer her babe in the temple. 



JESUS TAKEN TO THE TEMPLE. 31 

By a law of the Jewish religion it was the duty of Mary, 
forty days after the birth of her son, to consecrate him thus 
• tpenly to the Lord, and also to present herself to the priest 
\ ith an offering of thanksgiving; and tliough she knew that 
i esus was already consecrated by the name which the angel 
had provided him before he was born, and by the wondrous 
song of the heavenly host on the night of his birth, she did 
not feel that tlus could excuse her from that offering of 
herself with her child which the law required as. an at 
of her own faith and love. Indeed, these things made her 
desire the more to show her thankfulness and joy at the 
gift of such a son. And yet so modest was she, so 
humble and believing, that, in taking Jesus to the temple, 
she said nothing of these wonders, did not boast of him as 
a marvellous child, but went in the most simple and quiet 
way, with such a little offering as she could afford. 

A walk of two hours across the hills from Bethlehem 
would bring them to Jerusalem ; and, in their circumstjmces 
of poverty, Joseph would be likely to go on foot ; while the 
Uttle donkey with wliich they probably came from Nazareth 
to Bethlehem would carry the mother and child. On the 
way, they passed the fields where Ruth the ancestor of 
Mary, like herself poor and a stranger, gleaned the ears of 
corn, and won the heart of Boaz ; and the hill where Rachel 
died just as she came in sight of her new home, and where 
Jacob buried her with such sorrowinjr love. A little farther 



32 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

on, they came in sight of the twin mountains upon which 
Jerusalem was built, and on top of these the.waUs and 
towers of the city ; the marble pillars and gilded gates and 
cornices of the temple shining beliind the whole. Mary had 
seen the city and temple before, and had felt the pride and 
joy with which every Jew looked upon the holy place ; but 
never did the city seem so splendid, the temple so sacred, as 
on this day when she was can*}ang all tht* treasure of a 
mother's love up to tlie house of the Lord. 

The temple was open to rich and poor alike ; and the 
priests were ready to serve all who came with their offerings. 
So Mary was not ashamed to let it be seen that she was 
poor, and could afford to bring only two little pigeons, 
instead of a lamb and a turtle-tlove, for her thank-offering; 
but in her heart she gave all that she hatl, and more than 
any queen could give, in bringing to God the child which 
had come to her with such signs from heaven, and such 
promises to the world. With no pride in the honor that 
God had put upon her, and claiming no notice nor 
favor for the child, she would have been content with 
making the offering of a mother's piety, and receiving Uie 
blessing of the priest. P.ut, though Mary could hide deep in 
her heart all her own thoughts and hopes and wishes for 
her cliild, she could not hide from the world it^ Saviour. 
The last of the propliets had foretold that the Lord - should 
suddenly come to his temple : " * and now the spirit of 
» Mai. iii. 1. 



JESUS TAKEN TO THE TEMPLE. 33 

prophecy awoke within the temple to aunounce that the 
Lord had come. 

There was living in Jerusalem a pious old priest who had 
set his heart upon seeing the Saviour ; for, from what Daniel 
and other prophets had written, he believed the Messiah 
must soon appear. This good old Simeon prayed and 
•waited for the consolation of Israel;" and at last God 
promised him that he " should not see death until he had 

en the Lord's Christ."* Just at this moment he came into 
the temple, and was moved by the Spiiit of the Lord to take 
Jesus in his arms ; and, as he lifted him up to bless him, he 
broke forth into a song of praise over him as '' the Saviour 
that God had prepared for all nations, — a light for the 
Gentiles, and the glory of Isi-ael.''^ It was a beautiful 
sight, — this old man in such rapture over the babe, that 
he was willing to die, now that he had looked upon his 
face. Indeed, it was as if the angels had left the smile of 
heaven upon Jesus, and Simeon had caught it, as he said, 
'' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ; for 
iiiine eyes have seen thy salvation." ^ 

These words of Simeon filled Joseph and Mary with new 
wonder and joy ; for they seemed to give a definite meaning 
to all the strange things that had already happened concern- 
ing the cliild. Perhaps in their hearts they began now to 
think of him as a king, perhaps also to dream of the 

1 Luke ii. 25-27. 2 Luke ii. 25-33. « Luke ii. 29, 30. 



34 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

honor he would bring to his parents. But Simeon could 
see farther into the future than they, and he better under- 
stood the spiritual meaning of the prophecies ; and, lest 
Mary should be too much lifted up with hoi>e and pride, he 
went on to say, that sorrows as well as joys would come to 
her through her boy ; that his appearing' would show who 
among the Jews were men of true piety ; that many would 
refuse to receive him as the promised Messiah, and because 
of his humble birth and his holy doctrine would speak 
against him, and hate him ; and that at last the trials and 
sorrows that Jesus must suffer would pierce through his 
mother's heart like a sword.* Alas, alas I how true this 
proved when his mother saw him thrust out of the syna- 
gogue at Nazareth, tlireatened with stoning at Jerusalen . 
and at last beaten by a mob, and hung up on the cros- .' 
But it was not meant that Mary should go away sad ; and 
while Simeon was giving these warnings along with his bless- 
ing, a prophetess named Anna, a widow eighty-four years 
old, who lived in the temple, came in, and began to speak 
the praises of the child, not to his parents alone, but to 
bj^standers, and tg proclaim aloud that he was tlie promised 
Saviour. 

Had Joseph and Mary chosen to remain, they could soon 
have gathered a crowd around their child, and have gained 
much notice for him and for themselves, by telling the story 
1 Luke ii. 34, 3o. 



JESUS TAKEN TO THE TEMPLE. 35 



of his birth. But they felt too deeply the honor they had 
received from God to desire to use this for tlie praises of 
men : all was to them too real, too solemn, too blessed, to be 
trifled with for vanity or gain : and so, having finished the 
errand that brought them to Jerusalem, they left the temple 
and all these chances of worldly fame, and went quietly 
back to their humble lodgings at Bethlehem. But there, as 
we shall see, the child Jesus was to receive even greater 
tokens of honor, through the coming of tin* \vi<r. inon to 
worship him, with their gifts. 

As Mary turned to go down the steps of the temple with 
the consecrated child in her arms, we may well imagine that 
she had in her eyes that wonderful look which Raphael has 
«,^iVL'ii her in the picture of the Sistine Madonna, in the 
gallery at Dresden, which is known all over the world by 
copies, engravings, and photographs. She saw nothing of 
the splendors of the temple, its shining walls of marble, 
its glittering gates of brass, of silver, and of gold, its 
rows of lofty pillai"s carved with branches and flowers, and 
that wondrous golden vine twined over the great porch, 
with clustei*s of jewels sparkling under its leaves ; she saw 
nothing of the palaces and gardens that lay at her feet across 
the ravine from the temple-gate ; nothing of the aqueducts 
and fountains, the thousand cupolas Hke tents upon the 
house-tops, the gateways and towers of the city, that made 
Jerusalem "the joy of the whole land;" she saw nothing 



36 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



even of the beauty of the earth and the sky, the *' nioun- 
tains round about the city," that seemed to roll away in 
billows westward to the sea, southward to tlie desert, east- 
ward to the Jordan ; the green mount of Olivet overlooking 
the temj)le, the valley of the Kedron blossoming below : 
nothing of the earthl}-, notliing of the human, did Marj' see, 
as with a face subdued with awe, tender with love, beaming 
with hope, she came forth from the sanctuary where she had 
given her child to God : but, as she looked towaixl Bethlt- 
htin, she seemed to step upon the clouds, and to be sur- 
rounded with a choir of cherubs greeting the cherub in her 
arms. Yet, at this moment of her heavenly exaltation, the 
pang of a mother's grief passed over her; and her eyes 
melted at the thought of the sword that should smite his 
head, and pierce her soul. But in the same instant there 
shone from the eyes of the child a light as from heaven, 
chasing all pain and sorrow and sin away, — a bow of mercy 
and of peace springing out of an infinite love, reaching over 
the world and time, to end in an infinite joy. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE WISE MEN FKOM THE EAST. 

To the people of Europe and of America, the land where 
Jesus was born is itself " the East ; *' but at the time of his 
birth the countries of Asia lying beyond Jordan, especially 
of the Assyrians and the Chaldeans, were "the East" to 
the Jews who lived in Palestine. A vast and dreary desert 
lay between the Jordan and the Euphrates. Across that 
desert their fathers had been carried as captives ; in that 
East, "by the rivers of Babylon," Ezekiel, Daniel, and 
others of their great prophets, had lived ; and there many 
Jews had remained as settlers when the body of the nation 
returned to theii- own hind. 

The people of the East were much given to the study of 
the stai*s. Over their broad plains the heavens are stretched 
as an immense arch, visible upon every side ; and through 
their clear atmosphere the stars shine with a wonderful 
brightness and beauty. Their " wise men *' observed all 
tlie changes of the heavens ; made a record of eclipses, and 
of the conjunctions of the planets ; and they imagined that 



38 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

they could read, in the signs in the sky, the fortunes of men 
and of nations. They had formed a system of astrology, by 
means of which they jjiofessed to be able to predict or to 
explain public events, such as war or peace, famine or 
plenty, the birth or death of a prince ; and they were con- 
sulted for the interpretation of dreams and omens, as well 
as for the explanation of any strange appearances in the 
natural world. 

In the Book of Daniel, we find the Magi connected with 
the court, and employed by the king as counsellors in affairs 
of state. They were believed to be in communication with 
the world of spirits, and to have a knowledge of the future. 
King Nebuchadnezzar even called \x^n them to bring to his 
remembrance a" dream that he had forgotten ; and such faith 
had he in their power over the unseen world, that he sup- 
posed they were trifling with him, when they told him 
that no one could do what he required, except the gods.^ 

In Persia and Chaldea the Magi were an order of priests ; 
among the Phenicians, also, the high-priest was called " first 
Magus ; - and the word is said to mean ** the wise one," with 
special reference to spiritual knowledge or inspiration. 
Like the priests of ancient Eg^-pt, these Magi of Persia 
veiled under their sacred chai-acter the mysteries of science, 
and the wisdom of the past. They had charge of the edu- 
cation of the princes, and hence had great influence over 
1 Dan. ii. 1-13. « Movers Phon. ii. 1, 335. 



THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 39 



the king after he came to the throne ; and they were often 
men of true learning, as well as of sincere faith in theii* 
religion. 

But how came such men to be interested in looking up 
the new-born king of the Jews, who were a foreign people, 
and who had no longer any political power of theii* own ? 
Going back to the time of Daniel, we find, that, after he had 
told Nebuchadnezzar his dream, the king made him '' chief 
of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon," and 
''master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and 
soothsayers." ^ Of course the sayings of Daniel concerning 
the coming of the " Son of man" as " Messiah the Prince," 
and the kingdom which the God of heaven would set up, 
** never to be destroyed," ^ were known to the 3Iar/i of his 
day ; and the wonderful events of his life and times, the 
story of Daniel in the lions' den, and of Shadrach, Meshach, 
and Abednego in the fiery furnace, and of the return of the 
Jews to Palestine by the decree of Cyrus, would be handed 
down in the school of the wise men along with these pre- 
dictions of a king to arise out of Israel. 

Besides, a large colony of Jews, after the yoke of their 
captivity was broken, chose to remain in the region of 
Babylon, instead of returning with the mass of the nation 
to the land of their fathers. These kept up their religion, 
and their faith in the Messiah ; and, as many of them rose 
1 Dan. ii. 48, v. 11. 2 Dan. vii. 13, 14; ix. 25-27. 



40 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

to wealth and influence, they must have attracted the atten- 
tion of their neighbors to that promise of a coming king, 
which was read in their s^Tiagogues every sabbath day, and 
which held them together so strongly as a people. 

At all events, for some cause or other, there seems to have 
been, throughout the East, a wide-spread belief, that, at 
about the time of the birth of Jesus, there shoidd go forth 
from Judea the conquerors of the world. Whether this 
expectation was an offslioot from the Jewish faith in a 
Messiah, or was one of those popular beliefs that spring up, 
one knows not how, and that move whole nations with a 
common hope or fear, we have no means of detemuning ; 
but the fiict that such a notion prevailed, gives a natxind 
explanation of the coming of these wise men of the East 
to Jerusalem, to search for the new-bom king of the Jews. 
By their calling they were upon the lookout for any person 
or event that might promise to make a stir in the world ; 
through their study of Daniel's dates and predictions, which 
were kept among their learned books, they had come to 
expect, at about this time, the appearing of some wonder- 
ful person in Judea ; and perhaps they themselves were so 
fiir believers in the God of the Hebrews, and in their sacred 
Scriptures, that, in seeking the king of the Jews, they were 
moved by a personal faith, as well as by their love of 
wonders. What started them upon the journey was the 
appearing of a new star, which they looked upon as a sign 



THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 41 

of some great event, and in their fancy made it the herald 
of this promised king. The account of the star given by 
Matthew is the story of the wise men, — what they saw and 
believed : '* We have seen his star in the eiist, and are come 
to worship him." ^ And their seeing the star again, on the 
way from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, must also have been 
reported by the wise men themselves : '* The star which 
they saw in the east went before them, till it came and 
stood over where the young child was." ^ What, then, was 
this strange star ? Where did it come from? What did it 
mean ? Was it a new star created on purpose to guide these 
wise men to the birthplace of Jesus, which shone only so 
long as tliey were seeking liim, and vanished from the sky 
as soon as they had found him ? No such thing is said or 
implied in the story ; and we are not at liberty to suppose 
a miracle where none is stated nor required : hence we must 
read this story, so to speak, with the eyes of the wise men, 
and through their habits and beliefs. 

Astronomers have long observed that several of the fixed 
stars at times grow so bright as to appear like new, strange 
objects in the sky, and then grow so pale as almost to fade 
away. '' One of tlie most remarkable of these periodic 
stars is often termed 3Iira, or the wonderful star. This star 
retains its greatest brightness for about fourteen days, being 
then usually equal to a star of the second magnitude. It 

1 Matt. ii. 2. 2 Matt. ii. 9. 



42 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

then decreases, and in about two months ceases to be visible 
to the naked eye. After remaining thus invisible for six or 
seven months, it re-appears, and increases graduallj- for two 
months, when it recovei-s its maximum splendor/* * And 
besides these changes in the brightness or the apparent size, 
and also in the color, of well-known stars, we have accounts 
of temporary stars, new stars never before seen, which sud- 
denly came to light, and, after remaining a while in the same 
position, '' have died away, and left no trace behind/** Such 
stars have been remarkable for color and for brightness. 
The Danish astronomer, Tycho Bi-ahe, has given a minute 
account of such a star, which he saw for the first time on 
tlie 11th of November, 1572. *' Raising m}- eyes as usual, 
during one of my walks, to the well-known vault of heaven, 
I observed with indescribable astonishment, near the zenith, 
in Cassiopeia, a radiant fixed star, of a magnitude never 
before seen. In ni}- amazement, I doubted the evidence of 
my senses. However, to convince myself that it was no 
illusion, and to have the testimony of others, I summoned 
my assistants from the laboratory, and inquired of them, 
and of all the people that passed by, if they also observed 
the star that had thus suddenly burst forth. I subsequently 
heard that, in Germany, wagoners and other common 
people first called the attention of astronomers to this great 

1 Loomis's Astronomy, p. 290. 

* Loomis, Recent Progress of -Vstronomy, p. 171. 



THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 43 

phenomenon in the heavens. For splendor tliis new star 
was only comparable to Venus when nearest to the earth. 
Those gifted with keen sight could, when the air was clear, 
discern the new star in the daytime, and even at noon. At 
night, when the sky was overcast so that all other stars 
were hidden, it was often visible through the clouds, if 
they were not very dense. In December, 1572, its bril- 
liancy began to diminish, and the star gradually resembled 
Jupiter; but by January, 1573, it had become less bright 
than that planet. Through the year 1573 it grew less and 
less distinct ; and in March, 1574, the new star disappeared, 
after having shone seventeen months. This star went 
through several changes of color. During the first two 
months it was white ; then it turned yellow ; afterwards, in 
the spring of 1573, it was red ; and in May of that year it 
became white again, and so remained as long as it was 
visible." 

The great German astronomer, Kepler, has made one 
of these stars famous by the fine description that he gave 
of its coming and going. To his pious feeling the sight of 
this star suggested the star seen by the wise men in the east. 

On the 17th October, 1604, Kepler first saw a new star, 
which shone with a pure white light, and was brighter even 

^ For a full account and list of these new, or temporary stars, see 
Humboldt's Cosmos, vol. iii. sect. 4, and Bruhn's Atlas der Astronomie. 
Besides the two noted by Tycho Brahe and Kepler, the most important 
on record are B.C. 131, A.D. 389, 945, 1006, and 1264. 



44 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

than the planets Mars and Jupiter, which were visible at the 
same time ; hut, as it was watched from time to time, it« 
light was seen to be unsteady, and to change its color from 
white to yellow, then to crimson, and then to a pale dull 
shade, all the wliile growing less and less distinct, until 
finally it went out in darkness. It was seen for the last 
time in October, 1605, then very small and dim. But in 
1848 an astronomer in London* saw, in the same place where 
Kepler had observed his star, a strange star, which at first 
flashed with a reddish light, and, after going through many 
changes in color and l)riglitness, disappeared early in 1850. 
This may have been a return of the same star after mor.- 
than two hundred years ; or a new star may have chanced t* • 
appear in about the same place with that which Kepler saw. 
The season in whicli he observed this strange star was noted 
for many wonderful and beautiful signs in the sky. The 
two great planets, Jupiter and Saturn, had come so near 
together that their rays seemed to blend with a brightne,<- 
like the blazing-out of a new sun ; and a little later the 
planet ]\Iars came so near to this circle that all three shont- 
together, a trinity of glory, as if about to merge into a 
simple star. And, just when the eyes of astronomers were 
fixed upon these rare and brilliant signs, in the same quarter 
of the heavens came this new and wondrous star. As Kepler 
describes it, " Like a king, coming in triumphal pomp, who 

1 Mr. Hind. 



THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 45 

sends his heralds before to station his couit in their places, 
that all may do him honor, so this star, coming after these 
wondrous signs, chose for itself a place near the path of the 
sun, as if it would receive the salutations of all the planets." 
By a careful calculation, Kepler found, that, in the year in 
which it is now supposed that Jesus was horn,^ Jupiter and 
Saturn came into conjunction, passing each other three times 
in seven months : first, in May ; the second time, about the 
beginning of October, when they kept company for several 
days with a splendor that must have drawn all eyes to 
observe them ; and again early in December. The Magi in 
the East, who were alwaj-s watching the skies, must have 
been excited by these strange signs to expect some great 
event; the time was near for the birth of that wonderful 
king described by Daniel ; and if then, as in the time of 
Kepler, a new star suddenly appeared in the vicinity of these 
planets, shining brighter than them all, they must have 
taken that for the birth-star of the king, and would naturally 

^ Many scholars now ag^oe in fixing the birth of Jesus in the year of 
Rome 747, or B.C. 7 ; i.e., in the seventh year before the common date of 
the Christian era. See Dr. A. W. Zumpt's leanied treatise, Das Gehurts- 
Jahr Chrigli. For the astronomical signs of the year B.C. 7, see Kepler, 
Dc Jesu Christi vero Anno XalalUio ; Ideler, Ilandbuch der Chronologie^ 
ii. 406, and Lchrhuch der Chrnnologie, p. 428 ; also Pritchard, IMemoirs 
of Royal Astronomical Society, vol. xxv. Prof. Pritchard agrees with 
Ideler as to the fact of three conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn from 
May to December, B.C. 7 ; but he opposes the notion that this phenom- 
enon was the star of the Magi. 



46^ JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

have believed that it pointed toward the place where he was. 
And so, with their belief in signs and wonders, they rose up, 
and travelled from the East many hundred miles to find in 
Judea the birthplace of the deliverer of the world. • All this 
was natural, and yet it fell in with a wonderful Providence. 
We know that God chose the rainbow as a sign of his 
mercy, after the flood. Those beautiful colors were not then 
for the first time painted upon tlie sky. Ever since the sun 
first shone upon falling drops of rain, it had turned each 
drop into a prism through which the rays of pure white 
light glittered like gems of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, 
indigo, and violet. It is the very nature of light to produce 
this brilliant array of colors wlien it passes in a certain way 
through a globule of glass or of water ; and so the rainbow 
was not created at the flood, nor on purpose to be a sign that 
there should never be another such deluge. But after those 
long, long weeks of rain, in which the waters had risen 
above the houses, above the trees, above the hills, drowning 
men and cattle, destroying all the people of the land except 
the family in the ark, and for forty days there had been 
nothing to be seen but roaring waves, and dark and dreary 
clouds, when at length the sun broke out again, and lighted 
up the valleys and the trees as they began to appear, and 
tiu:ned the last dark cloud, as it was dropping its last shower, 
into a great banner of light flying its splendid streamers 
across the sky, — it seemed as though a new world had been 



THE nTISE men FEOM THE EAST. 47 

created, and God had "set the bow in the heavens" as a 
sign of hope, a promise of mercy. 

And so, though the star that appeared to the Magi might 
have shone with the same brilliancy had Jesus not been born, 
yet its coming was so timed to his advent, that these watch- 
ers of the skies, whose imagination saw the events of human 
life pictured in the stars, might well have taken it for a sign, 
and used it as a guide. The wondei*s of God's works in 
nature chime in with the wonders of his ways in providence 
and grace ; so — 

" Happy 8t«irs, timing with things below, 
Beat to the Doiseless rausic of the night." 

And as that new star stepped into the circle of the planets 
so quietly that it did not disturb their motions, nor change 
their courses, so that new Life from heaven, that should be 
the guide of all after-ages, came into the circle of our 
earthly life so gently, so humbly, that men would have 
known no more of its advent than did the cattle in the 
stall, had not the angels sung the birth of the Saviour in a 
song the stars might listen to, had not the star shone over 
his manger with the brightness of an angel. 

Of course I would not pretend to say that this meeting 
of the planets, described by Kepler, was the real sign in the 
heavens that led the Eastern astrologers to set out upon 
their search for the unknown kinsr of the Jews. The date 



48' JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

of the birth of Jesus is not positivel}" settled ; and even this 
wonderful appearance of the planets may not have answered 
at every point to what is said about the star at Bethlehem. 
But it does show us how a strange but natural phenome- 
non in the sky may have started up men who believed in 
heavenly signs, and who were looking out for sometliing 
new. Matthew did not see the star ; he does not speak of it 
as a miracle ; and we do not need to make up a miracle, to 
explain the coming of the wise men.* If a meeting of the 
planets, such as Kej^ler describes, gave the appearance of a 
star of strange brightness ; or if, in reality, a new, tempo- 
rary star then drew the notice of the wise men, — it would 
accord with what astronomy teaches, that this sign in the 
heavens should for weeks or months have been lost to their 
view, and that they should have caught sight of it again. 
after they reached Jerusalem, seeming to hang directly over 
Bethlehem. They were told to go to Bethlehem ; and, to 
their faith in heavenly signs, the star served both as a wit- 
ness and as a guide. Another conjunction of the same 
planets could have caused this effect ; or, they may have seen 
the star first as a morning star, and again as an evening star 
in another quarter.- In any case, we must remember that 
Matthew does not give this as a wonder that God had 
created, but only reports the story of the astrologers. 

1 See chap, vii., on Wonders. 

-^ In S'27 two Arabian astronomers ohserved at Babylon a new star. 
whose light equalled that of the moon in her quarters. 



THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 49 

The visit of the wise men to Bethlehem has given rise 
to many fables and poems, and has been represented in 
pictures and in sculpture by some of the greatest artists of 
the world. As thiee kinds of gifts are mentioned, — " gold, 
frankincense, and myrrh," — the number three lias been 
fixed upon for the Magi themselves ; and they are pictured 
as kings coming with a great retinue of camels and of 
servants carrying costly presents. These kings are made to 
represent different countries, such as Arabia, Tai-sus, Saba, 
Ethiopia ; and among the gifts are sometimes pictured the 
animals of these countries, — elephants, peacocks, parrots, 
and the like, — as well as gold and jewels made into the 
shape of a crown. The story goes, that the star resembled 
a crimson cross ; that, when the kings knelt beside the man- 
ger, the babe reached out his hands over their heads, and 
blessed them ; that Mary his mother gave them a linen band 
in which Jesus had been wrapped ; that, on going away, they 
found they could work miracles with this linen bund ; that 
they became preachers of tlie gospel, and went as missionaries 
to the barbarians, and finally were put to death as martyrs ; 
that their bones were gathered up, and taken to Cologne ; 
and now, in the great cathedral of that city, may be seen a 
silver case adorned with precious stones, in which are three 
skeletons said to be those of these three kings, their skulls 
crowned with diamonds, and their names written in rubies. 
The most costly and beautiful works of art have thus been 



50 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

gathered around the story of the wise men ; but how much 
more beautiful and precious is the story as it is told in the 
Gospel ! and how like the simple truth of history that stoiy 
reads, by the side of all the fables which have been invented 
to adorn it ! Instead of kings from different parts of the 
world, coming with a long train of servants, and making a 
splendid show, Matthew tells us only of wise men who came 
from the same country, and returned again to their home. 
They came quietly, as men of science following a star, and 
as priests and prophets seeking a new light in the world's 
history. They went first to Jerusalem, as was natural. 
expecting to find the new-born king at the capital, and in 
the royal house ; they inquired at the palace, and of the 
priests ; and, when at last they were sent to the little town 
of Bethlehem, they had such faith in their own doctrine of 
the stai-s, that they did not hesitate to lay their gifts before 
a child who had no signs of a prince about him ; whose 
parents were there upon a visit, and were so poor that 
they could hardly provide shelter and comfort for their 
babe. Then these wise men having obeyed their own 
belief in the stars, and liaving done their errand, went 
quietly back to their own country. 

Nothing more is said about them. The whole story of 
their visit is told in three or four verses of the Gospel ; and 
there is no attempt to make much of them or of their 
coming. Matthew does nothing more than record the 



THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 51 

incident as a fact. Yet, without knowing it, these Magi 
were the heralds and prophets of the coming of the Gentile 
world, with its treasures of science, of commerce, and of 
wealth, unto the knowledge and the service of Christ. 
" He came unto his own, and his own received him not." ^ 
The king of the Jews sought to destroy him in his cradle. 
The priests and Pharisees despised and hated him, and were 
not satisfied till they had taken his life. But the humble 
shepherds acknowledged Jesus as the Saviour ; and the wise 
men brought the homage of other nations to him as king 
of the Jews. All Christian nations are their followers. 
These Magi head the long procession of scholars, nobles, 
princes, who have honored the name of Christ. By their 
gifts, the products and the riches of the world were conse- 
crated to him, and gold and incense were redeemed from 
mere merchandise, to show forth the praises of the Lord. 
Yet these gifts have value only as the offering of love, the 
homage of the heart. And to us wlio know who this 
child of Bethlehem was, and what gifts of salvation he has 
brought, all the wise and the good of the past are calling ; 
the voices of the stars, the rememl)ered prayers of departed 
saints, that still linger as angel-voices in the air, are calling, 
— that we also should follow the Day-Star that has risen 
upon our hearts, and carry the offering of our love, the con- 
secration of our lives, to the feet of Jesus. 

1 John i. 11. 



CHAPTER VIT. 



A CHAPTER OF WOXDERS. 



There is in our minds a Boraething that delights in 
wonders. The wonders of science, the wonders told by 
travellers, the wonders invented for 8tor}'-lx>ok8, have a 
charm for youth, wliich does not wholly pass away with 
riper years. Tliis love of marvels may be abu^d ; and chil- 
dren are sometimes frightened, sometimes deceived, and 
ignorant persons are imposed upon, by stories made up 
on purpose to act upon their fancy or their fears. No 
doubt there has been, and still is, as much deception prac- 
tised about religious wonders as alx)ut any thing else in 
the line of fraud. But, for all that, this tconder-faith has its 
good and proper uses ; and there is a something in the world 
of reality about us, and in the region of ^wssibility above 
us, that answers to the power of imagining and of believing 
within us. Just as the eye is formed for light, the ear for 
sound, and every faculty for some corresponding use, so 
this much-abused faculty of faith has its brighter and better 
side. It is not only a part of our nature, but one of its 



A CHAPTER OF WONDERS. 63 

higher and nobler parts. How dull and tame, indeed, 
would the world become if we were shut up to believmg 
only what we can see and touch, and could never rise, as 
with the wings of a bird, into the region of spiritual life 
and powers, and feel the reality of something above the 
mere laws of the physical ! How mean would be our lives 
stripped of such associations with the invisible, clogged by 
the dull routine of sense, and never relieved by a single 
flight of the soul from its dark nest within, to the free air 
above ! Like every other faculty, faith must be educated ; 
and especially it must be trained to distinguish between 
wonders that are real and true, and wonders that are false, 
— whether these are created l^y one's own fancy, or are 
invented by evil and deceitful men. 

The Bible has been said to be a book of wonders. But 
it is not true that the Bible was written for the sake of 
telHng wonders, nor that it is made up chiefly of wonders, 
nor that it uses wonders to work uixm oiu* imagination, or 
to fill us with surprise. All the wonders told in the Bible 
come in to illustrate some truth or duty concerning God or 
our fellow-men ; to help us to conceive a higher state of 
being, a better, holier life ; and the moral lesson and the 
wonders fit together like a costly pearl set round with dia- 
monds, — each is in its place. These wonders that surround 
the birth of Christ ai'e even so many diamonds : they make 
the proper and becoming setting of such a life. They seem 



54 JESUS OF KAZABETH. 

natural to such a person as Jesus proved to be, and to the 
purpose for which he came into the world. 

In a later chapter I shall speak of the wonders that he 
did, and of the subject of miracles at large.* It is enough 
here to say, that, when the object u worthy of God a acting 
in what seems to us a strange and special way, then the 
miracle itself becomes natural, reasonable, — just what 
might be looked for in such a case. Not all wonders are 
muacles ; for a miracle is something so plainly against or 
aside from the observed course of nature in the thing that 
is done, that only a direct act of Grod could bring it to paas : 
yet God may use also wonders in the world of nature to 
call attention to some new word of truth, or act of love. I: 
is important to keep this fact in view for the right under- 
standing of the wonders recorded in the Bible, and for the 
true significance of miracles as proofs of God's presence and 
power. When we meet with something in the Bible that 
seems to us marvellous, the first thing is to understand the 
record, to make clear what the fact is thai is recorded, and 
to make certain the evidence of its being a fiict. Then we 
must receive the wonder as a fact, just as we receive many 
facts in nature and in life that we are not able to account 
for. This sort of faith reason itself requires of us. If 
now we see that the event was clearly above and beyond 
all natural causes, then we can only refer it to the direct 

* See chap, xxrii. 



A CHAPTER OF WONDERS. 55 

act of God. But we are not at liberty to make up a miracle 
for the sake of explaining a mystery, where the Bible itself 
does not, either in so many words or by clear construction, 
point to a miracle. Some of the early Christians thought 
they could increase the authority of the Gospels by adding 
to them a great many legends of Christ and his mother ; 
and in the second and third centuries new " Gospels " were 
written, full of marvels about the infancy and childhood of 
Jesus. But the true Gospels do not make a parade of mira- 
cles, nor so multiply wonders as to cheapen them. To keep 
the wonders of the Bible in their true place, as apart from 
and above all other wonders, we must not call every strange 
thing a miracle, nor make wonders the chief object of the 
book. The Author of nature often uses nature for moral 
ends ; and some of the wonders of the Bible were clearly 
God's higher teaching through the things that he hath 
made. An instance of this was given in the last chapter. 
It was no miracle, that a new star should be seen in the 
heavens, nor that, to men accustomed to read signs and won- 
ders in the sky, this should seem to halt as a sign over a 
certain Spot in Judah ; but that its appearing at such a 
time and place should serve to lead believing, waiting 
watchers to the birthplace of the Saviour, was a use of won- 
dei-s and of the wonder-faith, appropriate and in the highest 
sense natural to such an event. We cannot say that it was 
a miracle for angels to shine forth in the night, and break 



56 JESUS OF N.VZARETH. 

out into song ; for we do not know but the angels are in 
the air, and might at any time, quite naturally, make them- 
selves visible. But such words as they sung — words that 
no human ear had ever heard, no human lips had ever 
spoken, no human mind had ever imagined — seem to 
belong to angels, and to make the wonder natural in its 
place. That Jesus should be bom into the world without 
an earthly father, was not only a wonder, but a miracle; 
but when we study his life of love, his character of good- 
ness, his deeds of mercy and of power, and begin to feel 
that this most wondrous man, so apart from and above all 
other men, and yet so one with us all, ** was none other 
than tlie Son of God," then it ceases to be strange that he 
should come into the world as no other man ever did, or 
that an angel should come to tell this beforehand to Mai \ . 
And, above all, when we consider what sin and suffering and 
sorrow were in the world, it ceases to be a wonder, that God 
should set all heaven a-singing, and all the stars a-chiming 
to their song, to tell the glad news that a Saviour was bom, 
" who should save men from theii* sins." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE FUGHT INTO EGYPT. 

• 

Two hundred and fifty miles away to the south-west of 
Betlilehem is a wonderful land, where the sun alwa3^s shines, 
and the earth is like a garden. Upon each side of this land 
is a great desert, made up of mountains, rocks, stones, and 
sand, with here and there an oasis of life and verdure, but 
with no fields nor forests, no towns, villages, farms, nor fac- 
tories, to break the desolation. But this desert is broken in 
two by that wonderful river, the Nile, which rises more than 
two thousand miles back, in the great lakes and the snow 
mountains of the heart of Africa, and which brings down 
the rich, sweet water that supplies the whole land of Eg}'pt, 
and once a year covers it with the flood that makes it so 
fresh and fertile. It was among the reeds that grew upon 
the edge of this river, that the baby Moses was hidden by his 
mother in the tiny ark of bulrushes, when the wicked king 
had given orders that all the Hebrew boj's in Egypt should 
be put to death. And it was just such a cruel order of the 
king of the Jews, to kill all the little children in Bethlehem, 

57 



58 JESrS OF NAZ.VRETH. 

that caused Joseph and Mary to hurry away with Jesus in 
the night, and carry him to EgypU which was now a place 
of safety. 

The coming of the wise men from the East to Jerusalem, 
to inquire after the new-born king, made a great stir in the 
temple and in the palace, and was, of course, brought to the 
ears of Herod. This Herod was a man of a jealous and 
cruel disposition ; and some of the crimes he committed were 
so strange and violent, that he must have been subject to 
fits of insanity. He began his reign with the slaughter of 
all wlio had resisted his attempt to make himself king ; and, 
after he gained his end, any one who chanced to displease 
him, or who seemed to stand in the way of his ambition, he 
would order to be put to death, sometimes sacrificing hun- 
dreds of his subjects in an outbreak of passion or of fear. 
Even his own family did not escape these fits of fury ; and, 
like Henry VIH. of England, he was a real " Blue-Beard." 
His beautiful wife Mariamne, her grandfather, her two sons 
Alexander and Aristobulus, and his eldest son Antipater, 
who had long been his favorite, all in turn fell victims to 
his rage ; and, just before he died, he causetl many of the 
nobles of the land to be shut up together, and then gave an 
order that these should all be executed, so that at the time 
of liis death there should be a general mourning in the chief 
families.^ 

^ For a full accouut of Herod, see Josephus, AutiquitiM, xv. and xri. 



THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 69 

This dreadful wretch was king when Jesus was born ; 
and, as he had a great pride in keeping the kingdom 
in his own family, he was much troubled at the coming of 
the wise men to look up a child of whom Herod himself had 
no knowledge, but who, according to their reading of the 
prophets and of the stars, was born " to be the king of the 
Jews." As is apt to be the case with men who commit 
great crimes, Herod was very superstitious; and, though 
before the world he acted as if he had no fear of God or 
men, yet in his own conscience he was a great coward, and 
he was continually in dread of some punishment or calamity 
about to fall upon him. It is said, that, after he had mur- 
dered his wife, he gave orders to his servants always to 
speak of her as if she were yet alive, hoping in this way to 
rid himself of the horror of his crime. Knowing well how 
thoroughly the Jews hated his cruel reign, and knowing 
also the popular belief that the Messiah was soon to appear, 
Herod was afraid that a conspiracy would be formed against 
himself and his family, and that the new-bom prince would 
be set up as the heir to the throne of David. The Magi 
beings men of distinction in their own country, their coming 
so far and with such costly gifts, to worship the strange 
king, would bring the child into notice, and might raise a 
party in his favor : so Herod determined to find out where 
the child was, and to put him out of the way. But he hid 
his cruel purpose under a pretence of piety, and tried to use 
the Magi as his tools. 



60 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

Gathering together the chief priests and the learned men 
of the Jews, Herod insisted that they should tell him where 
Christ should be born. They gave him for answer the 
words of the prophet Micah : " And thou, Bethlehem, in the 
land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Juda : 
for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my 
people Israel." ^ These words must have' troubled him so 
much the more; for if the child was already born, that 
should be the Ruler of Israel, there could be no hope of the 
kingdom remaining in his own family. To get rid of that 
child was now his one desire ; and he could have no peace 
till this was done. But Herod was cunning, as well as cruel ; 
and without betraying his feehngs to the priests, lest some 
of them should be secret friends of the Messiah, he sent 
privately for the Magi^ and tried to find out all about the 
star, and what they knew or thought about the new king. 
Then, pretending that he also wished to worship this won- 
derful child, he sent them to Bethlehem to search him out, 
and told them to come back, and let him know where he was 
to be found. This seemed a very natural request ; and, had 
the Magi brought back word to Herod, he would at^ once 
have caused the babe, and perhaps his parents also, to be 
put to death. But God, who had sent Jesus into the world, 
was watching over him ; and, as we have seen, the wise men 
were " warned in a dream, that they should not return to 

iMic. V. 2. 



THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 61 

Herod ; " and so " they departed into their own country 
another way." ^ 

After waiting a while, and getting no news, Herod found 
out that the Magi had gone home without coming back to 
Jerusalem ; and this made him so angry that he determined 
to destroy all the male children under two years old that 
were in Bethlehem and the neighborhood. By this whole- 
sale murder, he thought he should make sure of killing the 
little prince. Though Josephus does not speak of this order, 
it agrees perfectly with what he has told us of Herod's char- 
acter; and, indeed, this might have seemed too small to 
mention, in a life so full of terrible crimes. 

Happily, in so small a town as Bethlehem, the number of 
such children was small. But it was large enough to fill the 
place with " lamentation and weeping and great mourning ; " ^ 
for all the neighbors who had no children of their own would 
join in the grief of the parents whose little ones were butch- 
ered before their eyes. 

But Herod was too late for his purpose of killing the 
Christ-child ; for Joseph, having been warned in a dream of 
the danger, was already far on the way to Egypt with Jesus 
and his mother. It probably took him two weeks to make 
the journey, trudging along by the side of a donkey upon 
which Mary rode with the child in her arms. At first they 
would travel rapidly, so as to get out of Palestine without 

1 Matt. ii. 12. 2 Matt. ii. IS. 



62 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

being pursued ; but, once in the desert, they would feel safe. 
The road led them directly south to Hebron, the same road 
over which Abraham had travelled when he went to oflfer up 
Isaac ; who was a t}^e of this dear little lamb, now snatched 
from death, but which should one day be seized, and hung up 
on a cross with the mock title, " Jesus, the king of the Jews." 
It was the same road by which Abraham, and afterwards 
Jacob, went down into Eg}'pt ; the same road along which 
David had been hunted by the jealous and bloodthirsty Saul ; 
the same road over which Elijah hurried toward the desert, 
as he fled from the wicked Ahab. And, no doubt, Joseph 
and INIary thought of all the good men who had suffered trials 
and sorrows along that very path, and by such memories 
strengthened their faith in the having care of <^"d r..r t^^ 
child. 

On reacliing Hebron, they would follow the edge of the 
desert westward to Gaza, and then would strike through the 
desert in a south-westerly course, to Egvpt. Here they 
would be likely to fall in -sWth caravans ; for there were then 
large colonies of Jews living in Eg}-pt, and there was much 
passing to and fro between them and their friends in Pales- 
tine. For their future safety, of course, Joseph and "Slary 
would keep to themselves the wonderful story of their child, 
and the fact that they were fleeing from danger ; and they 
could pass unnoticed and unquestioned among the numbers 
of their countrymen in Egypt. It is ver}- lik« -v ^-^-x that 



THE FLIGHT tS^TO EGYPT. 63 

they had friends who would receive them and care for them 
in a strange land. How long they remained in Egypt, we are 
not told, nor where they made their home. There is a 
legend that they took up their abode near the city of On, a 
little north of Cairo, where a very old sycamore-tree is still 
pointed out as the spot where they first halted ; and it is 
said that this tree, having been touched by the infant Jesus, 
yielded a healing balsam, and a spring of perpetual water 
opened at its side. Though we may not believe that any 
such thing happened to the tree, or that the tree itself is 
eighteen hundred years old, yet the story gives a beautiful 
picture of the blessings that come to any land which receives 
Christ into its bosom. Through the entering-in of his light 
and love. Nature itself takes on new forms of beauty and 
fruitfulness ; her very curse is turned to healing ; the forests 
teem with the incense of praise, and the deserts bubble with 
fountains of joy. 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE EARLY HOME OF JESUS. 



Soon after Jesus was carried into Eg^i^t, King Herod died. 
But in those days there were no ne\\^paper8, mails, nor tele- 
graphs ; and Joseph, living in an obscure \nllage in a strange 
country, might not have known of this event for a long time, 
had not an angel told him in a dream, that they were " dead 
which sought the young child's life," at the same time saWng 
to him, " Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and 
go into the land of Israel.'' * At first Joseph halted near the 
boundar3'-line, and there waited for further news ; for, though 
both his going to Eg^-pt and his returning from Egypt were at 
the command of God, he was to use his own judgment as to 
times and ways, and not to depend upon dreams for even* 
thing. It appears that he intended to return to Bethlehem, 
and make that his home. Mary would naturally \^ish to live 
near the spot where her child was born, and where so many 
wondrous things had befallen her. And this quiet, religious 
JeT\T[sh town Avould seem much more suitable for bringing up 

1 Matt. 19, 20. 
64 



THE EARLY HOME OF JESUS. 6o 

such a child than the mixed, half-pagan \'illage of Nazareth. 
She would feel at home in Bethlehem, for it was the home 
of her ancestors and of family connections; and as Joseph 
earned his living by his trade as carpenter, and lived in a 
very simple way, it was easy for him to remove from one 
town to another. Yet it did not seem prudent to go back to 
Bethlehem until sometlung was known of the character of 
the new king. 

The kingdom of Herod was divided, after his death, 
between his three sons. One of these, Archelaus, had the 
southern district of Palestine, viz., Judea ; the middle dis- 
trict, viz., Samaria, being about two-thirds of the whole 
country ; and, in addition to these, the region of Idumea, 
lying east and south of the Dead Sea. Another son, Herod 
Antipas, had the northern section of Palestine, or Galilee ; 
and a region opposite to this, on the eastern side of Jordan, 
called Perca. And Philip, the third son, had a large district 
lying east of the Jordan, from the line of Lake Tiberias up 
to Mount Hermon and the neighborhood of Damascus. Ar- 
chelaus, who ruled over Judea and Samaria, had much of 
his father's jealous and cruel disposition ; and, as his right to 
his dominion was disputed, the beginning of his government 
was marked by violence and bloodshed. A rumor that the 
child, wliom the 3Iar/i came to worship as king of the Jews, 
was yet alive, would of course have excited hira to make a 
new attempt to destroy the life of Jesus. Hearing this, 



JESUS OF NAZABETH. 



Joseph gave up the idea of returning to Bethlehem, but 
" turned aside into the parts of Galilee/' ^ where the milder 
brother ruled. From Gaza he may have followed the coast 
up towards Mount Carmel, and there have struck inland, or 
have taken another of the great caravan routes through the 
interior of the country ; or he may have avoided all cities 
and public roads, and made hLs way quietly along the by- 
paths ; but at last he found himself safe in liis old home at 
Nazareth. This was probably like most of the houses to 
be seen at Nazareth to-day, — a little square house of white 
stone, built upon the side of the hill, having at most two or 
three rooms, but with a flat or terraced roof, where in pleas- 
ant weather the family could sit together, and enjoy the 
lovely gardens and groves of the valley. 

This valley of Nazareth is hidden among the hills that 
bound the northern edge of the great plain of Esdraelon. 
These hills of all shapes and sizes, and dotted here and 
there with trees and grain, swell out so as to form a pretty 
little basin about one mile long by a quarter of a mile broad, 
which is covered with fields of corn, gardens, and clumps of 
olive-trees. To the north-west is a hill much higher than 
the others, the side of which is marked by little ridges ; and 
along these the houses stand in rows, one street above 
another, so that the village seems to be climbing up the hill 
upon which it is built. 

1 Matt i. 22. 



THE EARLY HOME OF JESUS. 67 

Down in the valley, upon an open space near the olive- 
trees, at a few minutes' walk from the northern corner of 
the village, is a beautiful spring, called " the Fountain of the 
Virgin," to which the women come at all hours of the day 
for water for their houses. No doubt Mary used often to 
come to this fountain, with her water-jar upon her shoulders, 
and her little boy at her side. 

The fountain is the place at which the neighbors gather 
to talk over the news ; and here Jesus played with other 
children of the village, while their mothers were resting at 
the spring. What childish pleasure he had in gatheruig the 
flowers of the valley, and in roaming among the trees and 
over the hills ! When he grew old enough to enjoy Nature 
on a larger scale, he must often have gone to the top of the 
hill over the town, which rises nearly five hundred feet 
above the valley, -for tlie lovely view of the sea, the moun- 
tains, and the plain, which now enchants the traveller like 
a dream of Paradise. Before one lies the great plain of 
Esdraelon, which stretches across the whole width of Pales- 
tine, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan ; and in spring- 
time, when the grass is bright with flowers, and the grain is 
waving in the cultivated fields, this looks like a vast carpet 
of green, varied with figures of the most gorgeous patterns, 
laid down at the feet of the mountains ; while the forests of 
oak, the groves of mock-orange, and the flowering shrubs 
and bushes along the hillsides, are like a fringe woven 



68 JESUS OF ^sAZARBTH. 

around its edges. Looking to the north of west, one sees 
twenty miles distant the Bay of Akka ; and the " great sea " 
beyond gleaming like a mirror, far, far away to where it 
seems to join the sky. Jutting over this bay is Carmel, 
rising right out of the Mediterranean, and stretching south- 
eastward for twelve miles, nearly in a straight line to the 
hills of Samaria. Following this line along toward the 
valley of the Jordan, the eye rests upon the " mountains of 
Gilboa," ^ where Saul met his death ; upon the '* little 
Hermon," across which he went the night before, to see the 
witch of En dor ; ^ a little to the north of this, and due east 
from Nazareth, Tabor, its round top looking like the dome 
of some great temple ; still farther to the north, the hills 
that hide the Lake of Tiberias ; and then the loftier moun- 
tains of Safed, nearly three thousand feet high ; and " the 
city set upon the hill," so bright and shining, that, in that 
clear atmosphere, it can be seen for thirty miles; and, 
above and behind all these, the great peak of Hermon, with 
its snowy crown ten thousand feet above the sea. Such 
was the picture which Jesus could see from the hill aboTe 
his home in Nazareth, either bright and glowing with the 
morning sunshine, or shaded and tinted with the evening 
twilight. 

The home of his childhood was also a school of his mind 
and heart in the knowledge of nature, which apj>ears in his 
1 1 Sam. xxxi. 1. ^ I Sim. xwJH T. 8. 



THE EARLY HOME OF JESUS. 69 

discourses and parables ; in the birds and the lilies ; in the 
fig-tree and the vineyard ; in the winds and clouds, and all 
the signs of weather ; in the fields white for the harvest ; in 
the thorns and tares ; in the good ground and the wayside ; 
in the fountains and the sea. But it was not only Nature 
that he learned to know. From these same hills there was 
spread out before him the panorama of the history of Pales- 
tine, and of the kingdom of God upon earth. Across the 
great plain of Esdraelon had passed the caravans from 
Arabia to Tyre, and from Damascus to Egypt ; and among 
these the Midianites who bought Joseph from his brethren, 
and carried him away to the banks of the Nile. Beyond its 
southern ridges lay the twin mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, 
between which Joshua had gathered the children of Israel 
to hear the words of tlie law, and to swear allegiance to 
Jehovah. Over on that hill of Tabor, Deborah had rallied 
the troops of Israel against Sisera, whom they defeated by 
the River Kishon. 

Yonder by the mountains of Gilboa, Gideon, with the 
sword of the Lord and his handful of chosen men, had put 
to flight the Midianites who had swarmed over from the 
desert like locusts; and by those same mountains the 
Philistines had defeated Saul. More than once the hosts 
of the Assyrians and of the Egyptians had swept across 
this plain in their marches against each other, or for the 
conquest of Israel ; and in one of the battles of these foreign 



70 JESUS OF NAZABETH. 

powers the good King Josiah was slain. Along that coast, 
where the old cities of the Phoenicians, Tyre and Sidon, once 
stood in their glory, the floats of Hiram had passed, carrj'ing 
the cedars of Lebanon to build the temple of Solomon at 
Jerusalem. Far up the plain was the site of Jezreel, where 
the wicked King Ahab had built his palace ; and opposite 
was Carmel, where Ehjah had called down upon the priests 
of Baal the fire of the Lord. So many chief events of the 
history of Israel, as well as so much of the beauty and 
grandeur of the land of Israel, were thus brought daily under 
the eye of Jesus as he grew up in his home at Nazareth. 
What a school for the mind and heart of the Great 
Teacher I 



CHAPTER X. 

THE FAMILY OF JESUS. 

Though Jesus had no earthly father, Joseph, who was 
married to his mother, and who knew how this child had 
been sent to her from heaven, loved him, and took care of 
him, as if he had been his own son. He carried him to 
Egypt, and there watched over his life ; and, when he came 
back to Palestine, the good of the child was the one thing 
he thought of in choosing his home. For the comfort of 
Jesus and his mother, he would have returned to Bethlehem ; 
but for their safety he settled down at Nazareth. Nothing is 
said of him after this, except that, when Jesus was twelve 
years old, he took him to Jerusalem to the great feast of the 
passover; but we are told that Joseph was a "just man," 
upright, kind, and good. He was known in the village as 
the carpenter ; and the neighbors looked upon Jesus as his 
child, and spoke of him as " the son of Joseph," ^ and " the 
carpenter's son."- This shows us that the family lived at 
Nazareth in a simple way, as plain working people ; and that 

1 Luke iii. 23. 2 Matt. xiii. 55. 

71 



72 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

Joseph and Mary did not try to set themselves up among 
the neighbors on account of their wonderful child, but kept 
to themselves all that had happened to him, and waited to 
see what would come of it. And as years went by, and 
nothing seemed to come of it, and no new wonder appeared, 
things settled down into a quiet family life*; and Jesus grew 
up simply as a lovely, beautiful, and obedient boy, subject 
to his parents, growing in knowledge as he grew in stature, 
and growing, too, in favor with God and men.* 

By and by other children were bom into the family ; and 
these, too, were gifts of God and angels of blessing, though 
no one heard the angels singing when they came. These 
brothers and sisters, who grew up with Jesus, knew no 
difference between him and themselves ; and, though four 
" brothers of our Lord *' finally became his disciples, so far 
were they from boasting of him, or putting him forward to 
make a name for the fiimily, that at first they were slow to 
believe in liim as the Messiah, and tried to hold him back 
from his public laboi's.^ 

So real and natural was the human life of Jesus, so 
different from the fables sometimes made up about wonderful 
men, that until he appeared in public as a divine Teacher, 
and a worker of miracles, his own brothers, much as they 
loved and trusted him, had no idea ♦i'^* ^^-^ ^^-^^ ^^'^-^ tL'ti t 
more than one of themselves. 

1 Luke i. 39, 40, 52. « Mark iii 21. 




The Youth of Jesus. 



THE FA3IILY OF JESUS. 



But in that family circle there was one who always hoped 
and believed that some day Jesus would show that he was 
quite different from the other children, and, indeed, from all 
other men. Through all her fears for his life, through all 
the trials of poverty, through all the years of waiting, his 
mother kept hid in her heart the wonders of his birth, 
and the things said of him by the angels and the prophets. 
She was sure that something must come of all this ; and 
she showed her confidence in him at Cana, where she was 
ready beforehand to believe in an}* thing that he might say 
or do. 

Not only was Mary most favored and blessed among 
women, in being the mother of the Lord ; but she was a 
woman of remarkable wisdom, and strength of character, as 
well as of deep and humble piety. She knew how to keep 
her heavenly secret from tlie curious and idle world ; how 
to avoid the foolish gossip of the neighbors, and to preserve 
the love and confidence of her friends ; how to feed her 
faith upon the hidden promises of God, and to wait without 
weariness or impatience for his time to fulfil them. She 
guarded and tended the infant Jesus with the joy of a 
mother's faith ; she waited for her Messiah with the patience 
of a mother's hope ; she watched his words and works with 
the pride of a mother's love ; and she followed him to the 
cross with the courage and devotion that come only of a 
mother's acronv. 



74 JESUS OF NAZAKETH. 

And Jesus upon the cross, having shown his divine pity in 
forgiving his murderers, and his divine power and grace in 
opening Paradise to the penitent thief, just as he began to 
feel the horror of being forsaken by his Father, turned all 
the love of his human heart upon his mother, and told his 
best and dearest friend, the true and loving John, to take 
her to his home, and be to her as a son.* 

1 John xix. 26, 27. 



CHAPTER XI. 



JESUS AT SCHOOL. 



When he was six years old, Jesus was sent to school. 
As soon as he could understand any thing, his mother, 
in lier own sweet, gentle way, had talked to him about 
the love of God ; had told him the stories of Abraham 
and Isaac, of Jacob and Joseph, of Moses and of Samuel ; 
and had taught him to sing the Psalms of David. But, 
from what we know of her prudence and patience, we 
may well doubt whether she gave him any idea of what 
the angel had told the shepherds about him Avhen he 
was born, and what Simeon had said of him when she 
carried him to the temple. Mary was more inclined to 
wait, and see what would come of these things, than 
to talk about them ; and more wiUing to trust to God to 
teach and lead her child, than to feed his mind and her 
own with wonders. As Jesus grew older, Joseph taught 
him the histor)'- of the Jews, and the meaning of the sac- 
rifices and the festivals, and other chief things in the 
laws of Moses. By those laws all parents were required 

75 



76 JESCrS OF NAZARETH. 

to teach their children the commandments of God, and 
to give them lessons from the Bible, not only on the 
sabbath, but every day, at morning and evenihg. Even 
when walking together, parents were to give their children 
useful knowledge " by the way." ^ It came to be a saying 
among the people, " Blessed is the son who has learned 
from his father, and blessed is the father who has instructed 
his son." 2 

It was also the custom of all good Jews to send their 
children to school, to learn what they could not so well 
be taught at home. And it was a saying of their wise 
men, that " The world is preserved by the breath of the 
scliool-children ; " and, ^' A town in which there is no school 
must perisli." It is said, that, ** eighty years before Chriist, 
schools flourished throughout the length and breadth of 
the land." These schools were free, and were for all 
alike. Education was taken up i\s a national work ; and 
laws were passed fixing the location and the form of school- 
buildiugs, the number of children to one teacher, the 
age of pupils, and the duty of parents in preparing their 
children for school, and in watching over tlieir studies. 
By much effort a law was passed making education com- 
pulsory ; but at fii*st this law did not apply to Galilee : * yet 
Galilee had its village-schools, which were open to all. 

^ Dent. vi. 7. « Literary Remains of Emanuel Deutsi h. n. 24. 

3 Emanuel Deutsch : Literary Remains, pp. 23, 139, 140. 



JESUS AT SCHOOL. 77 



We know that Jesus could read and write ; and we may 
well suppose, that, at the usual age, he was sent to school 
with the other children of the village. This school at 
Nazareth was not like the high schools in our great cities, 
or the academies in our large towns and villages, where 
children are taught a little of almost every thing; but 
it was a sort of parish-school, kept by an officer of the 
synagogue ; and the children were taught to read, to write, 
and to cipher, and were made to learn by heart the Bible 
history, and the Psalms that were used in public worship. 
Besides this, they had lessons in the meaning of the sacred 
law, and in the moral duties of life. In Judea there were 
higher schools, in which languages, mathematics, astronomy, 
history, natural history, grammar, law, and ethics were 
studied ; but at Nazareth there was probably no tiling more 
than the village-school in its simplest form. 

It would amuse children nowadays to see such a school 
as that to which Jesus was sent. The teacher wore a 
turban, and a long robe, or gown, fastened with a girdle 
around his waist. He sat upon a cushion, with his legs 
crossed under him, like a tailor sitting on his bench ; and 
the children sat cross-legged in a circle, upon cushions 
on the floor. They had no desks, but held their books, 
or scrolls, in their hands; and whatever the teacher told 
them they would repeat together after him at the top of 
their voices. One can see just such schools now in Egypt 
and Svri;^ 



78 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

Besides these village-schools, and the graded schools 
spoken of above, there were in the large cities schools, 
or seminaries, called colleges, where the most learned 
scribes and doctors gave lectures, and held discussions, 
upon points of Jewish law and theology. It was in such 
a school, at Jerusalem, that Paul was brought up "at the 
feet of Gamaliel," one of the most famous among Jewish 
teachers. But there is no reason to suppose that Jesus 
ever went to any other than the little parish-school at 
Nazareth. Indeed, when he began to preach, his towns- 
men wondered how he could know so much ; for he had 
grown up among them as the son of a poor man, and had 
never been away to study at any of the colleges in the 
cities. And once, when he was teaching in the temple 
at Jerusalem, the Jews were so much astonished at his 
wisdom, that they said, '• How knoweth this man letters, 
having never learned?" By "letters," they meant not 
simple reading or wTiting, but learning, or knowledge; 
and, as they knew that Jesus had never been to school 
to any of the great rabbis at Jerusalem, they wondered 
how he was able to speak so wisely and so well. Paul 
had studied both Greek and Hebrew learning;* and he 
sometimes quoted the sapngs of poets and wise men 
among the Greeks.* But Jesus never speaks of any of 

1 The Talmud shows, that, in the colleges, Coptic, Aramaic, Penian, 
Median, and Latin were studied ; but Greek was the favorite language. 
* Act3 xvii. 28. 



JESUS AT SCHOOL. 79 



the great teachers who had lived in other countries, and 
never quotes from any book but the Old Testament, and 
the comments which the Jewish rabbis had made upon 
their law, — "" the traditions of the elders/' This fact is 
important, as showing the sources of his knowledge. As 
Jesus does quote from the standard books of Jewish his- 
tory, theology, and literature, it is fair to suppose, that, 
like Paul, he would have quoted from the sages of other 
nations had lie been acquainted with their sayings, or 
had he borrowed any thing of their words or their ideas. 
Jesus left nothing of his own in a written form; and, 
from his parables and discourses wliich have come down 
to us, it is plain that he had nothing of what is called 
book-learning, and did not get his wisdom from what 
other men had said or written. Probably he had never 
heard of Plato, much less of Confucius, though some of 
his sayings resemble somewhat the sa3^ings of those 
philosophers. 

But, as we have already seen, Jesus could find in the 
hills and valleys, in the trees and flowers, in the sea and 
the sky, as these were spread out before him at Nazareth, 
a great book in which to study the works of God, a 
day-school and a night-school, which always gave him 
new lessons of wisdom, of power, of beauty, and of love. 

And there was another school at Nazareth to which Jesus 
went, — the school of work. Among the Jews it was the 



80 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

custom in every family, that the boys should learn a trade ; 
and, indeed, parents were required to bring up their sons to 
some kind of work. The Apostle Paul was a tent-maker : 
and, during his long stay at Corinth, he earned his living 
by working with his own hands. Among the chief Jewish 
rabbis, their great teachers, one was kno\4Ti as " the shoe- 
maker," another as " the weaver," and another as " the 
carpenter." As a matter of course, Jesus would be brought 
up to the trade of his father Joseph ; and, in fact, he was 
not only known as " the carpenter's son," but was himself 
spoken of as " the carpenter." * His having a trade was no 
disgrace among the Jews, nor was this in itself a mark of his 
lowliness. But by thus livmg a life of poverty and of toil, 
earning his daily bread, he learned how to s}-mpathize with 
the poor; and by his example he taught us how to turn 
into a blessing the labor which sin had made a curse. 

This was one of the ways in which Jesus was a Saviour. 
He redeemed our common, every-day work from drudgery 
and disgrace, by making it a service of his Father in heaven. 
He was doing the will of his heavenly Father while working 
in the shop of his eartlily father, no less tlian when working 
miracles of mercy, and preaching the gospel of salvation. 
The thirty years wliich he spent so quietly at Nazareth were 
as really a part of his heavenly mission as were the three 
years of his public ministry. And to follow Christ, and serve 

1 Mark ii. 3. 



JESUS AT SCHOOL. 81 



God, it is not necessary that we should have some great 
thing to say or to do before the world ; but by being true 
and kind and faithful and good, just where we are placed in 
life, we can make our daily work a daily worship, the hum- 
blest home a temple for the service of God, and the hardest 
life a school for training our souls for heaven. It was a 
boast of the Jemsh commonwealth, as it is a boast of 
modern democracies, that " labor is honorable ; " but Jesus 
has taught us that it is both sacred and blessed. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE CHILD LOST AND FOUND. 

The quiet home and school life of Jesus at Nazareth was 
hroken only by one incident of a public nature, which has 
come down to us. Every Jew who was able to make the 
journey was bound by the law to go to Jerusalem once a 
year, to keep the festival of the Passover, which lasted seven 
days. ^ When a boy was twelve years old, he was called a 
" son of the law," and was expected to attend the great reli- 
gious festivals in compau}' with his parents. So, too, at a 
certain age the children of Roman citizens were clothed with 
a garment of a certain form and color, — the toga prctiexta^ — 
as a sign that they were fi*ee-born, and were raembenj of the 
Roman commonwealth. 

The parents of Jesus were strict in the duties of their reli- 
gion ; and hence " they went to Jerusalem every year at the 
feast of the Passover." * And, when Jesus was twelve }-eare 
old, they took him with them. At such times Jerusalem was 
crowded to excess : every family in the city opened it< di^-^rs 

1 Deut. xxvii. 7; Neh, viii. 9-12. * Luke ii. 4L 

82 



THE CHILD LOST AND FOUND. 



not only to friends, but to strangers ; and yet, for want of 
room in the houses, many visitors were obliged to sleep in 
tents, so that the suburbs of the city had the appearance of 
a great camp-meeting. The people from the country came 
up to the feast in caravans ; all the neighbors in a village, 
and sometimes all the inhabitants of a district, would arrange 
to travel in one company, because this was so much safer and 
cheaper than to go alone. They enlivened the way with the 
songs of Zion, " turning the valley of Baca into a well." ^ 
The greater part would go on foot; others, upon asses, horses, 
or camels, which were also used to carry the tents, baggage, 
and provisions. Of course, such a large body would move 
slowly, and could not go many miles in a day ; and it had to 
march with something of the order of an army. It is the 
custom in the East, for a caravan to begin its journey about 
noon, and to go only one or two hours — say four or five 
miles — the first day ; halting early so as to make sure that 
nothing is missing, and that every thing is in order for the 
march. • 

At the close of the feast, everybody was in a hurry to start 
fur home ; and Joseph and Mary joined a large caravan for 
Galilee. As they were busy getting their tilings together, 
they did not miss Jesus until they had started ; and then they 
supposed, of course, that he was somewhere in the caravan, 
and they should find him at the end of the day's journey, 

1 Ps. Ixxxiv. 6. 



84 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

which would so soon be over. Jesus was such a thoughtful, 
gentle, and obedient boy, and there were so many Relatives 
and acquaintances from Nazareth in the party, that his 
parents did not once think of any harm to him, until after a 
couple of hours the caravan came to a halt, and they hunted 
for him among their friends, and could not find liim. There 
was but one thing for them to do, and that was to hurry 
back to Jerusalem ; and so they turned about with fear and 
sorrow, searching for him along the wayside, in the streets 
of the city, at the quarters they had just left, and wherever 
they remembered to have taken him, or thought it possible 
that he could have wandered. They asked everybody they 
met, but no one had seen their boy ; they enlisted friends to 
help them in their search, but nobody brought them any 
tidings. The city was still very crowded ; the streets were 
full of confusion and hurry from the breaking-up of the feast; 
and every hour added to their fear that some evil had hap- 
pened to their child. Mary was so troubled that she could 
neither eat* nor sleep. She never before knew how much she 
loved her boy. Could it be that the angels had forgotten 
him, and would leave him to some dreadful fate? Had he 
been saved from the cruel Herod, by that long flight into 
Egypt, only now to be crushed to death in the crowd, or to 
be stolen by one of the robber bands that hung around the 
city, and carried off where she should never hear of him 
again ? Was this the " sword " that good old Simeon had 



THE CHILD LOST AND FOUND. 85 

told her should pierce her Sonl ? Ah, how sudden was the 
stroke, and how sharp the pain ! 

Two days were passed in this terrible suspense. The 
boy was lost, and no trace of hira could be found. The 
friends with whom he had staid in Jerusidem supposed 
that he had started with his parents. He had told no one 
where he was going ; and he had not come back to eat or 
sleep at their house. There were no such arrangements in 
Jerusalem as now exist in large cities, for finding lost chil- 
dren by the help of the newspapers and the police ; and 
every moment of delay made it less and less likely that they 
should get any tidings of the boy. But through all the 
weary hours there was something deep in Mary's heart that 
told her she should find him, that he had been sent into tlie 
world for some great good, and no evil should befall liim ; 
and, though broken down with sorrow, she kept on seeking. 

But where was Jesus all tliis wliile ? Searching for his 
parents ? Or, learning that they had started for home, was 
he trying to find some new party with which to gT) to Naz- 
areth? Or was he wandering about to sec the strange 
sights of the city, so filled with a child's wonder that ho did 
not realize he was alone and lost? No. It was not 
carelessness, nor curiosity, that had kept him back, l)ut the 
love of knowledge. For he had found a new school, where 
he could go and sit by the hour, and hear wise men talk, 
and ask questions for himself. Around the temple, in Avhat 



86 JESUS OF XAZAIiETH. 

was called the outer court, were cloisters open on the inner 
side, but roofed over for protection against the , weather. 
These cloisters were divided into halls of various sizes ; and 
here the great Jewish rabbis, or teachers, would give instruc- 
tion to all who chose to hear. The mode of teaching was 
much like that which Socrates used with the youth of 
Athens. The teacher would give a short lecture upon some 
subject, and tlien ask questions alx)ut it, or answer the 
questions that were put to him. Sometimes he would begin 
by asking a question ; and this would lead to a conversation 
or discussion in which all present might take part. Here a 
scholar could sit a whole day, talking with one teacher and 
another ; and, iu tlie wanu weather, could even sleep in 
the porch over night, iis people in Palestine were accus- 
tomed in summer to sleep in the open air.* There was 
nothing strange in a boy twelve yeai"s old being among 
the learners at tliese meetings in the temple-porch, and 
nothing forward in his asking questions. Indeed, a teacher 
would be -very likely to put questions to a bright-looking 
boy standing by, to find out how much he had learned at 
home and at school. From the dialogues of Plato, we learn 
that Socrates often began his discussions of philosophy and 
morals by asking questions of a youth. A boy brought up 
according to the rules of the wise men was taught Bible 

1 At Joppa. one wanu u\g:ht, my host seut me to sleep on the flat roof 

of the house, lu^ tlie most comfortable place. 



TiiE CHILD LOS^BW FOUND. ^^^ 87 

lessons and Jewish history at school from six yeai*s old to 
ten ; then he began to study the books which the learned 
doctors had written upon the Jewish law. At twelve he 
was thought to be old enough to come to the temple-service, 
and take part in the duties of a Jew, and also to study the 
hard questions which were discussed by the rabbis. And 
there was Jesus in the temple, sitting in the midst of these 
great teacher's of the law, '* hearing them, and asking them 
questions." ^ He was just at that age when a well-bred and 
well-behaved boy is neither too forward nor too bashful, — 
gentle and respectful in his manners, but eager to learn, and 
pleased at being talked to by persons to whom he looks up 
as so much older and wiser than himself. 

The answei-s wliich Jesus gave to the questions of the 
rabbis were so wise and deep that all that heard him were 
astonished at his understanduig. By degrees quite a crowd 
drew together to the hall where this convei*sation was going 
on, and stood waiting to see whether the 3'oung stranger 
would not bo puzzled by some hard questions, or to hear 
what bright questions he would next put to the rabbis. 
Just at this moment his parents, tired and sad with their 
fruitless search, came in at that side of the temple, and, 
seeing the crowd, went up, and found their boy. " They 
were amazed ; " for they had no thought of finding him in 
the temple, but had come in hope of meeting some friend 

1 Luke ii. 40. 



88 .JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

who had seen him, and to pray that God would guide them 
to their lost child. His mother did not stop to tak& in what 
was going on around her, nor to feel a pride in the admira- 
tion of others for her son : she took no notice of the crowd 
of strangers, or of the learned doctors. All the grief that 
for two days had been swelling in her heart now burst 
forth in a cry of reproof, which yet was not anger, but the 
anguish of love. Her sorrow must have vent before she 
could give place to her sudden joy. ** Son," she said, " why 
hast thou thus dealt with us? Bchol-V ♦^ - ^'^ - nnd I 
have sought thee sorrowing." * 

Now, Jesus had no thought of neglecting his parents. He 
had not disobeyed them, nor run away from them : only he 
had been so fiiscinated with talking with these learned men, 
that he had not thought of home nor of any thing else. 
A Jewish boy was brought up to reverence his teachers. It 
was a saying, " You should revere the teacher even more 
than your father. Your fiither only brought you into this 
world: the teacher shows the way into the next," But^ 
besides this thirst for knowledge, a new, strange feeling had 
begun to stir within his soul, drawing him toward Go<l as 
his Father, whom above all others he must love, ol>ey, 
and sers-e. AVhat he had learned from his mother's lips and 
in his infant prayers, what had seemed to him so near in 
God's talking with Abraham and Moses, what he had so 

^Lukeii. 40. 



THE CHILD LOST AND FOUND. 89 

often thought and dreamed about with a childish wonder, as 
he sat upon the hill-top at Nazareth, or strolled alone in the 
woods, now came to him as real^ — that he was " the Son of 
God," and must follow the voice of his Father in heaven. 
He had been taught at home to look upon Joseph as his 
father ; and his mother had just said, " Thy father and I 
have sought thee : " but he felt a drawing of his heart 
toward God, so near, so close, that he spoke of God as his 
real, his only father ; and the consciousness of this relation 
with heaven must guide and rule his life on earth. What 
God delights in is truth and love and goodness among men ; 
and, young as he was, Jesus felt that he must be doing in 
the world that which God delights in, must make a begin- 
ning by speaking of and seeking after holy things in his 
Father's house, " must be about his Father's business." ^ 

Since the wonders at Bethlehem, so long a time had 
passed in the quiet, every-day life at Nazareth, that the 
parents of Jesus could not understand the full, deep mean- 
ing of what he now said. But it was not said for the 
purpose of throwing off their authority. There was no 
pride in the heart of this loving bo3% who had been so 
admired by the rabbis. Our Father in heaven has taught 
us to love and honor him in loving and honoring our earthly 
parents. And so Jesus at once left the new school in the 
temple, that had so much charmed him, and the people who 

1 Luke ii. 49. 



90 JESUS OP NAZARETH. 

were so ready to praise him, and went back to the little 
home at Nazareth with his parents, and there " xvos subject 
unto them," ^ li\'ing with them in all the loving devotion of 
a child. Yet all the while his soul grew with the conscious- 
ness of his new life, so that every one remarked how he 
increased in wisdom and in grace as he grew in years. 

Mary forgot nothing that happened to Jesus, and nothing 
that was said to her about him. She kept all in her heart ; 
but, now that her wonder and hope were so awakened by 
this scene in the temple, she must keep on waiting in silent 
faith. The divine life had blossomed in her son : she must 
wait almost twenty years for the perfect fruit. 

1 Luke ii. 51. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 

Fab up in the north-eastern corner of the Holy Land, fed 
by the snows on the summit of the great Mount Hermon, 
and by rivulets and fountains from all sides of the valleys 
round fibout, rises the famous river of the Bible, the Jordan, 
which makes its way through marshes, lakes, and gorges of 
the mountains, till it is lost in the Dead Sea. The river is 
winding and full of rapids, so that it cannot be used by 
boats ; and though in some parts its valley is rich and pro- 
ductive, in others it is wild and barren, or the banks are 
lined with cane-brakes which are the home of beasts of 
prey. But though of no use for commerce, and now but 
little used for agriculture, the Jordan is celebrated as a 
sacred river. To the Jews it marked the boundary between 
the desert and the promised land ; and to the Christian it 
is a sign of the river of death, that divides him from his 
heavenly home. Abraham and Jacob crossed the Jordan in 
their pilgrimages ; Joshua and Elijah divided its stream by a 
miracle : in its waters Jesus was baptized ; and its chief lake 

91 



92 JESUS OF NAZAKETH. 

was the scene of many of his discourses and of his mighty 
works. 

But how came Jesus to be baptized in this river, or to be 
baptized at all at the age of thirty, when in his infancy he 
had been consecrated to God by all the forms required in 
the law ? The Jews had certain ceremonies in which water 
was sprinkled upon persons or things as a sign of religious 
cleansing. Thus, when the Levites were set apart to their 
office, the " water of purifpng " was sprinkled upon them, 
to make them clean.^ 

So, when one had touched a dead body, he was regarded 
as unclean, or unfit to take part in the sacrifices, until he was 
sprinkled with ^'the water of separation," which was also 
called ''a purification for sin." ^ In later times the scribes 
and Pharisees added very much to these uses of water for 
sacred ceremonies. They gave a religious meaning to the 
washing of cups and pots, of brazen vessels, and of tables, 
or the couches upon which they recUned at their meals ; ' 
and they insisted that foreigners who embraced the Jewish 
religion should be baptized. It seems also to have been 
a custom for a great prophet or a reformer to baptize his 
followers as a sign that they received his teachings, and 
meant to put away their sins and begin a new life. Such a 

1 Num. viii. 7. This was literally called "sin-water;" that is, 
water used as a sig^ of washing away sin, and thus making fit for the 

sacred office of Levite. 

^ Num. xix. 9, 13, 17, IS. « Mark vii. 4. S. 



THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 93 

prophet and reformer was John the Baptist, wliose father 
was a priest by the name of Zacharias, and whose mother 
was Elisabeth, the cousin of Mary the mother of Jesus. 
This John had been brought up very strictly according to 
the sect of the Nazarites, who never tasted wine nor strong 
drink, never had their hair cut, and never mingled in the 
pleasures of social life.^ He Avas born in a village of Judea, 
upon the border of the wilderness ; and he seems to have 
grown up a good deal like a hermit, spending much of his 
time in the desert, in meditation and prayer.- This wilder- 
ness was not a great waste of sand, but a region of rocks 
and mountains, lying along the western side of the Dead 
Sea, where there was too little soil and water for farming ; 
but good pasture was to be found at certain seasons in the 
valleys. There were few villages or settlements in this 
region ; but the number of people employed in taking care 
of flocks was large enough to cause quite a stir in the land 
when John first appeared among them as a prophet; and 
their reports of his preaching reached Jerusalem, and drew 
crowds from the city to hear him. John had the dress and 
the manners of one of the old prophets. He wore a long 
robe woven of camel's hair, which was fastened about his 
waist with a girdle of leather ; and he lived upon the honey 
which he gathered from the hives of wild bees in the rocks 
and trees, and upon locusts such as at this day are cooked 
and eaten by the Arabs in the same region. 

^ Num. vi. 2 L^e i. 80. 



94 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

At that time there was a general feeling that the Messiah 
was soon to appear; and as it was also predicted that a 
prophet like Elijah should go before him, when John began 
to preach that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and 
to call upon the people to repent, his bold and earnest 
manner, and his strong and faithful words, led many to 
believe that he was the prophet Elijah come again from 
heaven : indeed, not a few imagined that he must be the 
Christ. But John himself told the people that Christ was 
yet to come, that he would soon appear, and would search 
their hearts and lives, even as the wind sweeps over the 
threshing-floor, and sifts out the straw from the wheat; 
even as the fire burns up the chaff when the wind has thus 
blown it away.^ 

The Jews were hoping for a Messiah who should be a 
great king and warrior, who should drive the Romans out 
of the land, and make their own nation free and rich and 
powerful : but John taught that Christ would come to cast 
out the sins of the people, and to set up the kingdom of 
heaven in their hearts ; to search for the true friends of 
God, who by their faith and piety showed themselves the 
children of Abraham ; and that they must prepare for his 
coming by repenting of their sins, and leading good lives, 
honest, true, faithful, and kind to the poor.* Preaching in 
this manner, John went from place to place, until he came to 
^ Matt. iii. 11, IJ. a Mark i. 4. 



THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 95 

the River Jordan at a point not far from the city of Jericho. 
Great crowds had followed him all along the way, and new 
people came also from the eastern side of Jordan ; for at this 
point the river was so shallow that it could commonly be 
crossed on foot by a ford. Here many confessed their sins, 
and were baptized. But though John had gathered such a 
multitude of disciples, and was looked up to as a reformer, 
he did not once attempt to turn the popular excitement to 
his own account, but refused the titles and honors that the 
people were ready to bestow upon him, saying, " There 
Cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose 
shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed 
have baptized you with water; but he shall baptize you 
with the Holy Ghost." * It was the duty of a servant, when 
a guest arrived at the door of the house, to take off his 
sandals, and wipe off the dust from his feet ; but such was 
the reverence of John for the Messiah, that he felt himself 
unworthy even to touch his sacred person in the humblest 
task of a servant. 

After preaching in Judea, and baptizing at the lower 
ford, John crossed the Jordan, and went up toward Galilee, 
in the neighborhood of the ford where Jacob had passed 
over the river with his family. At this point, Jesus came 
to him to be baptized. Though John and Jesus were 
cousins, they had lived far apart, each in his own quiet 

1 Mark i. 7, 8. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



way, and, it would seem, had never before met ; or, if John 
had already met Jesus personally, he had not seen- in him 
any thing that answered to his own notion of the Messiah. 
Yet doubtless his mother had told hun of the wonderful 
things that had happened to the mother of Jesus before and 
after his birth ; and now, when lie saw his cousin approach- 
ing, the feeling that this was indeed the Messiah became 
so clear and strong, that John at first declined to baptize 
him ; desiring, rather, to receive a blessing from Jesus. 
But Jesus was careful to comply with all good religious 
customs ; and, since the baptism of John was the mark of 
a holy reformation, he insisted uj>on being baptized as an 
open sign of consecration to his new work. As Jesus went 
up out of the river, a dove that seemed to come from the 
very depths of heaven hovered over liim, and alighted upon 
his head ; and John, who stood wondering at tliis beautiful 
sight, heard a voice from heaven, saying, '* This is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.*' * And then ho 
perceived that the Holy Ghost had chosen this gentle bir i 
as a sign of his own peace and purity and grace that 
should consecrate the head of Jesus, and fill his ministry 
with the presence and power of the Spirit of God. 

After such a sign, John felt sure that Jesus was the 
promised Messiah; but the words in which he declareil 
this must have sounded strangely to the crowds that he 
1 Matt. iii. 17; Mark i. 10, 11; Luke iii. 21, 22; John i. 82. 



THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 97 

had warned to make ready for the kingdom of heaven. 

Here was the Messiah of the prophets ; here was the son of 

David, anointed by the Holy Ghost ; here was the Lord 

from heaven in the likeness of the Son of man, as Daniel 

and Ezekiel had seen him in their visions ; here was the 

Son of God. All this was now clear to John. Yet, in 

pointing out Jesus as the Chiist, he did not say, " This is 

the conqueror who shall deliver Israel ; " " This is the 

king who shall restore the throne of David : " but, in words 

as gentle as the voice of the dove, this stern prophet of the 

wilderness now said, '* Behold the Lamb of God, which 

taketh away the sin of the world ! " ^ Like the promise of 

the angel to Mary, like the announcement of the angels to 

the shepherds, like the prophecy of Simeon in the temple, 

these words of John marked Jesus as the Saviour of the 

world, the Saviour through the sacrifice of himself, even 

as the lamb was daily sacrificed in the temple. Jolin could 

rebuke sin ; but Jesus would redeem from sin. John could 

say, " Repent, and flee from the wrath to come : " Jesus 

would say, " Believe, and be saved." And the most gentle 

creatures that God has made, the dove and the lamb, were 

the symbols of that ministry of mercy that should draw a 

sinful world into the kingdom of love, which is the kingdom 

of heaven. 

1 John L 29. 



CHAPTER XIV 



JESUS IN THE DESERT. 



Jesus was about to go forth into the world as the 
teacher of truth ; but, to know the reality of truth, one 
must have wrestled with doubt. Jesus was to lead men to 
faith in God ; but, to know the strength of faith, one must 
have known the weakness of fear. Jesus was to recover 
men from sin ; but, to know the power of virtue, one must 
have felt the power of temptation. And just such a trial 
of his own faith in the word and the Spirit of God, and of 
his power to resist evU, came to Jesus before he appeared 
in public as the Messiah. That divine Spirit, which at 
his baptism had consecrated him as the Son of God, now 
moved him to go into the wilderness, and stay there alone 
until God should show him how to begin his work. 

The same wild, broken, thinly-peopled country which 
forms " the wilderness of Judea,*' on the western side of 
the Dead Sea, extends north of Jericho, along the valley 
of the Jordan, and is there marked by barren and rugged 
mountains of white limestone. One of these, north-west 




.lESlS IN THF I>F.SKRT 



JESUS IN THE DESERT. 99 

of Jericho, to the left of the road in going down from Jeru- 
salem, a steep mountain which rises some fifteen hundred 
feet above the plain, has been fixed upon by some as the 
place to which Jesus now went ; and, in reference to his fast 
of forty days, it is called Quarantania, Of coui'se we cannot 
know the very spot in the wilderness at which this scene of 
his life took place ; but it was certainly in that lone and 
dreary region along the valley of the Lower Jordan. Mark 
says that he was " with the wild beasts ; " in a place remote 
from the dwellings of men, and where the wildness and 
loneliness of nature were broken only by the roaring of 
beasts of prey. Here he was exposed to physical perils 
and fears, without the comfort of human sympathy. As 
he heard the beasts prowling around the cave in which he 
slept, ho must have known that most painful feeling of 
lonehness and danger by night. 

Yet Jesus was so absorbed with spmtual things, so taken 
up with prayer and with thoughts of God and of his new 
work, that he was not lonesome, and hardly felt the want 
of natural food. There are cases on record of persons who 
have gone for more than forty days without eating or 
drinking ; ^ and we know that a great sorrow or a great joy, 
or any strong excitement of the nerves, will cause one to 
forget his bodily wants. Indeed, we hardl}^ know the full 
power of will or spmt over the bod}^ either to subdue or 

* See note at the end of this chapter. 



100 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

to sustain it. It was certainly possible for Jesus to have 
been so lifted up and sti-engthened by his spiritual feelings 
and desires, that through all these days he literally " did 
eat nothing." ^ But the story does not require as to take 
this literally ; for it is said of John that *•■ he came neither 
eating nor drinking : " 2 lie did not depend, like other men, 
upon regular food, but "lived upon locusts and wild honey " 
that he picked up in the wilderness. And so this fasting 
of Jesus may mean only that he lived without regular 
and sufficient food, picking up such roots and l^erries as he 
might find in the wilderness, never tasting bread or meat 
for forty dajs.^ This would answer to the idea of fasting 
as often given in the Bible, and to the word used by Mat- 
thew. But, if we take Luke's words to mean that he really 
did eat nothing at all, tlion we may fall back upon the 
power of the spirit, when in a state of ecstasy, to hold in 
check the appetites of the body, so that these hardly come 
into mind. 

It is, of course, easy to say that this fasting of Jesus was 
a miracle; that he was kept alive without food, by the 
special power of God. But tlie Evangelists do not speak of 
the fasting as a miracle ; and why should we ? Here is a 
case for the caution given in Chapter VII., — not to invent a 
miracle to explain a difficulty, when the Bible itself does 

1 Luke iv. 2. * Matt xi. IS. 

• Forty is often used iu the Bible as a rouud uumber; as we now say 

" a dozen," or " twenty." 



JESUS IN THE DESERT. 101 

not present the fact as supernatural. This would tend to 
lessen the authority of real miracles, when the Bible does set 
these before us to command our faith. Now, the Bible gives 
us good reasons for not supposing that the fasting of Jesus 
was a miracle. Matthew and Mark say that " angels minis- 
tered unto him ; " but this was not till after he had fasted 
for forty days, and had resisted the Tempter alone, and in 
the faintness of his hunger. The Apostle Paul teaches that 
"in all things " Jesus was " made like unto his brethren, 
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest," — 
might have a real and tender sympathy with us ; " for in 
that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to 
succor them that are tempted." ^ Now, Jesus was not like 
us, did not feel as we do, did not suffer as we do, if in his 
temptation ho was all the while kept up by miraculous 
power. We have no such power given nor promised to us 
to resist hunger, or any other form of trial or suffering ; and 
therefore what Jesus did by miracle could give no example 
nor aid to us who cannot hope for miracles in our behalf. 
If this scene in the wilderness was all a miracle, we could 
look upon it with wonder and reverence ; but we could not 
look to it for help and strength. But we can look to the 
Spirit of God to help us to overcome weakness, temptation, 
and evil ; and if, in his great temptation, Jesus is set before 
us truly, as a man fighting with the Devil by this same help 

1 Heb. ii. 17, 18. 



102 JESUS OP NAZARETH. 

of the Spirit of God. then we can look to him for sympathy 
and aid. And this, again, is what Paul teaches: *'for we 
have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the 
feeling of our infirmities ; but was in all points tempted like 
as we are^ yet without sin." ^ At the first, the mind of Jesus 
was so filled with what he was to do in the world, and with 
the feeling that he was the Son of God, that even the want 
of bodily food was forgotten, as in a dream, when the spirit 
seems to move and act without the body. The warmth of 
the climate in the dry season made it safe for him to sleep 
in the open air : yet he had no bed but the naked rock, or 
the hard floor of some mountain cave, with a stone for his 
pillow. 

After thirty years of waiting in his humble home, Jesus 
felt that the time had come for him to show himself as the 
teacher and the Saviour of the world. We remember, that^ 
at the age of twelve, the feeling that he was the Son of 
God was so strong in him that he then wanted to " be about 
his Father's business." From that time he had hved quietly 
in Joseph's shop and at Marj^'s side, waiting for the day 
when he should begin in public the great work for wliich 
he knew he had been sent into the world ; but, now that the 
Spirit had declared him to be " the Son of God," he felt that 
he must enter in earnest upon his Father's business, and 
make it his meat and his drink to do the will of Him that 

» Heb. iv. 15. 



JESUS m THE DESERT. 103 

sent him.^ But how to begin was the question. We have 
seen what a fever the people were in about the Messiah ; 
how they were running after John the Baptist, expecting 
that he would turn out to be the Christ ; and we know that 
the Jews were ready for any leader who should promise to 
drive out the Romans from their country, and to set up the 
kingdom of Israel. 

To raise the old flag of Judah as the true heir to the 
throne of David ; to take advantage of the restless feehng 
of the times ; to bring forward the signs and wonders of 
his birth and calling, and the prophecies of his kingdom ; 
to draw a crowd of followers, to drill them in the wilder- 
ness, and then lead them up to take Jerusalem from the 
Romans, — all this would have been just what the people 
were looking for, and would have liked, in their Messiah ; 
and this might have been done suddenly with some show 
of success. No doubt Jesus thought of this while school- 
ing bunself in the desert to the slow and patient work of 
founding a kingdom of truth and love by preaching and 
by suffering. The very air was full of suggestions and 
occasions for one who felt himself to be the Messiah to 
make himself king. And, while every thing was ripe for 
such a move, the Devil tried to tempt Jesus to make a bold 
stroke for the favor of the people, by showing off his power 
as " the Son of God." 

1 John iv. 34. 



104 JESUS OP NAZABETH. 

First the Tempter assailed him through hunger, which, 
after so many days of suspense, now suddenly seized upon 
him with terrible pangs. Men who have suffered hunger in 
the desert, or by shipwreck, or in times of famine, say that 
the craving after food is as if some living creature wa** 
gnawing at the stomach ; and at last this makes the sufferer 
as fierce as a tiger to devour any tiling that may come in 
his way. In the siege of Paris, in 1871, dogs, cats, rats 
were eaten by the starving people ; in the famine in Penda, 
in 1872, not only these, but toads and seq>ents, and even 
corpses, were devoured ; and, in the siege of Jerusalem under 
Titus, it is said that mothers ate the dead bodies of their 
children. As Jesus, famishing for bread, hunted among 
the rocks for something to stay the craving of his stomach, 
or, fainting from weakness, lay down upon the liare ground, 
ready to die of hunger, the Tempter put these thoughts into 
his head: *'Are you not the Son of God? Have you not 
felt this since you were twelve years old? And, on the 
day of your baptism, did not a voice from heaven declare 
this to you and John ? AVhy should the Son of God die 
of hunger ? Has he not power over every thing in the 
world? Can he not work a miracle to save Ids life? Or 
is there, after all, a mistake ? How easy it woiUd be to 
prove what has been said! If thou he the Son of God, 
command that these stones be made bread." Thus did 
Satan work upon the feelings of Jesus, as lie lay there 
weak, weary, suffering, helpless with hunger. 



JESUS IN THE DESERT. 105 

But, if Jesus was the Son of God, he had come iuto the 
world to live as a man, and to show men how to live ; and 
the first duty of a son was obedience to his father. He 
remembered how it is written in the Scriptures, *'Man shall 
not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth 
out of the mouth of God." To make food for himself by 
working a miracle, would be to distrust the providence of 
God in caring for him as a weak and needy man. Other 
men could not turn stones into bread to save themselves 
from starving ; and, if he would be the teacher and leader 
of men, then as a man Jesus must stand in his lot, and 
show an example of patience under suffering. Besides, to 
satisfy our bodily wants, is not the chief thing for which 
we should live. The wants of the mind and of the soul 
are far higher and nobler; and though the body must be 
rightly cared for, and kept in healtli, and we must eat and 
drink and sleep if we would be in the best condition to 
think, or even to pray, yet we must learn to subdue the 
most pressing wants of nature to what seems to be our duty 
to God, and so make it our meat and drink to do the will 
of our Father in heaven. Thus Jesus taught us that to 
suffer hunger, and meekly to wait for God to send relief, 
looking to our Father to give us our daily bread, was far 
better than to set up our own pride or self-will in relieving 
ourselves without looking to God, and by a selfish use of 
means and powers given for quite another purpose. 



106 JESUS OF NAZABETH. 

The Tempter now put it into the mind of Jesus to show 
himself as the Son of God by making a display of his 
power before the crowds who were always gathered around 
the temple at Jerusalem. The people were expecting their 
Messiah to appear in some strange and startling way, and 
were looking for " a sign from heaven.** What if he should 
go and plant himself upon the highest point of the 
temple, — where he must soon draw the notice of crowds 
in the courts of the building and in the streets of the city, 
— and then, while all were gazing, should suddenly sail 
down among them through the air ! Had not God said, 
"He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and in 
their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou 
dash thy foot against a stone " ? ' and could he not trust 
such a promise in the very act of showing the people that 
the Son of God had come to set up his kingdom ? WTiat 
a sensation such an appearance would make I How imme- 
diate would be its effect in rallying the people around the 
standard of their new king! Yes: but this would be a 
kingdom of outward show, not of inward spiritual power ; 
men would run after Jesus with proud huzzas, instead of 
following him with humble hearts ; they would be looking 
after wonders, instead of mending their ways. God had 
not sent him to set up such a kingdom ; and though he 
could trust God to protect him in any danger, to deliver 
1 Ps. xci. 11, 12. 



JESUS IN THE DESERT. 107 

him in any trouble, it was also written, " Thou shalt not 
tempt the Lord thy God." ^ We may not presume upon 
God's taking care of us when we rush into danger without 
cause, or for the sake of showing how far we can venture 
upon providence. A bridge built by the laws that God 
has written in nature will bear a railway train safe across 
the chasm of Niagara ; but, if Blondin chooses blindfold to 
drive a wheelbarrow across on a single wire, he must not 
look for the hand of God to lead him, and keep him from 
tumbling into the abyss. We can trust God to take care 
of us in doing whatever he fairly requires us to do, though 
this be to stand in a furnace of fire, or to lie down in a 
den of lions ; but we may not take upon ourselves to violate 
the laws of God, even for making a show of our confidence 
in him, and then expect him to reach forth his hand, and 
save us from the consequences of our temerity. So Jesus 
taught us to do nothing rashly, even in God's name ; but to 
seek to do God's will in God's own way. It is the golden 
motto of faith, Thou shalt always trusty hut never tempt^ the 
Lord thy God, 

It takes hard knocks to drive the Devil away. He had 
kept back his best card ; and, though twice repelled, he grew 
the more presumptuous, or perhaps the more desperate. 
From the higher points of the wilderness in which Jesus 
then was, he could look eastward toward the seat of those 

1 Deut. vi. 16. 



108 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

great empires, which under the names of Assyria, Babylon, 
Parthians, and Medes, had filled so large a space in the 
history of the world ; southward, where Arabia and Egypt, 
by letters, science, wealth, and dominion, had made them- 
selves a lasting name ; westward, where the land of Pales- 
tine, then a province of Rome, would remind him how that 
empire was stretching its all-conquering, all-grasping arms 
across every sea, to every land. And now there came to 
him the thought of a world-wide emi)ire, more vast and 
splendid than Alexander had dreamed of owning, and had 
died in winning. But here Satan unmasked his character 
and purpose. Himself the god of ambition, the ambitious 
must serve him ; himself the god of this world, those who 
seek worldly power and grandeur must pay homage to him ; 
and, as tlie vision of " all the kingdoms of the world and 
the glory of them " passed before the imagination of Jesus, 
Satan said, '' All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt 
fall down and worship me." * Jesus saw that such thoughts 
were of the Devil ; though his own eye or imagination was 
the screen on which they were painted, the drawing, the 
coloring, were from the hand of the Tempter. To possess 
such an empire, to wield such power, to have such a name ! 
Ah, but this would be to abandon the ver>- kingdom of 
God which he had been sent to estabUsh. Filled with holy 
anger, Jesus turned upon the Tempter, and said, ** Get thee 

1 Matt iv. 9. 



JESUS IN THE DESERT. 109 

hence, Satan ; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord 
thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." And the Devil 
left him. 

How the Devil came and went, Jesus did not tell his 
disciples, when he gave them the story of his temptation ; 
or at least the Evangelists are silent about it. 

The Bible teaches that there is a real, living spirit of 
evil, of vast powers of mischief, called Satan, the Devil, the 
Tempter, the *' Father of lies." It represents him as able to 
act upon the minds of men, by suggesting thoughts and 
imaginations, and inciting feelings and desires. But though 
the Bible speaks of Satan as a personal spu'it, thus acting in 
some way upon the human spirit, it does not describe him as 
having any shape visible to men. No such appearance is 
spoken of here ; and we are left to suppose that Satan acted 
ui)on the mind of Jesus, just as he acts upon other men, 
through physical longings and necessities, through visions, 
imaginations, fancies, hopes, and fears. As was said above, 
it is this that makes the temptation of such value as a lesson 
to us ; for in these three temptations, addressed to the bodily 
appetites and desires, to the pride of display, and to the 
love of power, Jesus was " in all points tempted like as we 
are, yet without sin ; " ^ and hence he is able to help us 
when we are tempted, by his example, his sympathy, his 
spirit of grace and truth. 

1 Heb. iv. 15. 



110 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

Weak and faint as he was with fasting, this inward 
struggle must have left Jesus weaker and fainter still. But 
he had struggled and prevailed as a man, as all men must 
struggle and prevail, by prayer and by the word of God ; 
and this conflict and victory brought him to so high a frame 
of pious feeling, that to his spiritual vision the air was now 
filled with angels who came to minister to him/ — not, 
indeed, with earthly food, such as the ravens had brought 
to Elijah in that same wilderness, but with such assurances 
of his Father's love and approval, as were to his soul the 
bread of heaven, and the water of life. Thus comforted 
and strengthened he returned to the outer world, to eat and 
drink, to teach and work, to go freely among men in all 
conditions of temptation and of sin, that he might impart 
to them the inner life of faith, and turn them " from the 
power of Satan unto God." 

Note on Living wrrnour Food. — That in certain forms of 
disease, and especially of nervous disease, life may be sustained 
for a long period without the taking of nourishment, is well known 
to every ph3sician. But how long a healthy person can endure 
without nourishment of any kind, is an unsettled question, depeod- 
ing upon age, race, constitution, and custom. Hippocrates fixed 
the outside limit at seven days ; but this is contradicted by many 
well-established facts. 

On the 8th October, 1835, a man was buried in a coal-mine. 
1 Matt iv. 11. 



• JESUS IN THE DESERT. Ill 

at Kilgramie in Ayrshire, and on the twenty-third da}- iiftcr was 
got out alive, though during this time he liad had no nourishment, 
with the exception of a little water, and less than half an ounce 
of tobacco. He died, however, in some days after the rescue. 

In July, 1825, an artillery-man deserted from Coblenz ; and for 
fort3'-four days he prolonged his life in the woods upon whortle- 
berries alone. He was found in a very reduced state, and taken to 
the hospital, where he was soon restored.^ 

Death usually ensues much earlier where hunger and thirst act 
together. The pain of thirst is sooner felt, and thirst seizes more 
strongly upon the whole organism ; so that one who takes a little 
water can endure abstinence from solid food nuicli longer than one 
who suffers hunger and thirst together. Seven men who were 
floating for seventeen days upon an ice-flake in the open sea kept 
themselves alive upon nothing but melted sea-ice, and were at last 
rescued b}- the inhabitants of the island of Bornholm.^ Cases are 
not infrequent in which health}- men have survived ten, twelve, or 
fourteen days without nourishment of any sort ; * but there are 
also a few cases, well established, of such endurance for a much 
longer period. 

A Corsican prisoner b}- the name of Antonio Viterhi^ who was 
condemned for murder, resolved to starve himself to death before 

1 See Schmidt's Jahrbucher, 183G, No. 10, B. XII. 11, I, p. 58, for 
these two cases. 

^Hufeland: Journ. d. pr. Heilk., March, 1811, p. 116. See also in 
Henke's Zeitschrift fiir die Staatsarzeneikimde, 1837, p. 358; article by 
Dr. E. Miinchmeyer of Liineburg. 

* Griffith : London Med. Journ. vol. xliii. 



112 JESUS OF X^VZAKETH. 

the day set for his execution. From the 2d of December until the 
20th, when he died, he took no food whatever. Occasionally he 
would wet his mouth ; and twice (on the tenth and the thirteenth 
day) he was so overcome by the torments of thirst that he drank 
a little water; but, with these slight exceptions, he endured 
with unconquerable fortitude the pangs of hunger and thirst for 
eighteen days.^ 

In 1831 a Frenchman b}- the name of Granien, who was 
condemned to be executed at Toulouse, star\ed himself to death 
in prison. Neither persuasion, nor threatening, nor force, could 
bring him to take food of any kind, though from lime to time he 
would take a little water. In this state he lived sixty-three days.* 

A woman eighty years old, in the Julius Hospital at AViirzburg, 
for five weeks would take nothing but water, and died at last in 
the sixth week.^ 

A young man, who had resolved to starve himself to death, 
lived for twenty-four days without food, taking nothing but about 
two quarts of water daily. 

As a rule, persons who aie laboring under some medical 
disturbance with which the body spnpathizes can hold out longer 
without sustenance than one in a healthy condition of body and 
mind. 

A remarkable case is reported b}* the General-surgeon Gerlach 
of Koenigsberg, of a musketeer, Jerome Tuskewitz by name, who 

^ Medical Jurisprudence, by Paris and Foublauque, vol. ii. Cd-73. 
London, 1S23. 

2 Henke's Lehrb. d. gericht Med., 4S2. 
8 Huf eland's Journ. , 17 vol. 2. 



JESUS m THE DESERT. 113 

cut off the index-finger and two joints of the forefinger of his 
right hand in order to escape military dut}\ He was believed 
to be a little out of his head. While in the hospital, he was 
so filled with the terror of punishment after his recovery, that he 
resolved to starve himself to death. Two or three times he was 
persuaded to take nourishment by the assurance that he should 
not be punished ; but his fear came back, and at last he persisted 
in starving himself until he died. lie was in the hospital four 
months ; and dui'ing this time there were onl}- twenty-four days 
on which he took any food ; and finally he went for thirty days 
without nourishment.^ 

In 1824 a man living on the Rhine, in Germany, attempted to 
cure a disease of the eyes by protracted fasting. For forty-seven 
days he took no kind of solid food ; for four weeks of this period 
he took only pure water, with the exception of four cups of weak 
tea without milk.^ For other cases, consult the following 
authorities upon hunger: — 

De Fame; Dissertatio: ^milius Nehmer, 1846. Archives 
generales de Mtdecine^ t. xxvii. Two cases of suicide by starv- 
ing : one died on the sixtieth, the other on the sixty-third day. 

Henke : Zeitschrift fiir die Staatsarzeneikunde. Traite de 
Medecine Legale, par F. J. Fodere, vol. ii. Paris, 1813. 

Lehrbuch der juristischen Medicin, von Orfila, uebersetzt von 
Dr. Gust. Knipp. 2 Band. Leipzig, 1849. 

Reynolds: Discourse upon Prodigious Abstinence. London, 

1 Essays of Edinburg: see M.v. p. 11. 

2 Dessen and Von Grafe's Journal, vol. xxi. part 3. 



114 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



1669. See Bibliotheque raisonnee de I'Enrope. 1747, vol. xxxix. 
p. 248. 

Haller: Physiolog., B. \i. 

Percival: Med. Essaj-s, vol. ii. 1790. 

Egron: Considerations sur 1' Abstinence ; Theses de Paris, 
1815, No. 22. Pourcy : L' Abstinence de 1809, No. 285. Theses, 
1818, No. 84. Savigny : Observation sur les Effects de la Faim ; 
Naufrage de la Mcduse. 

Hufeland's Journal, 1819, B. xlviii. No. 3, p. 95. 

Piorr}' : De P Abstinence, Arch, de Med. 1830. CoUard de Mar- 
tigny : Recherches and Journ. de Physiolog. de Magendie, B.S.S. 
152-210. 



CHAPTER XV. 

JESUS BEGINS HIS WOKK. 

While Jesus was in the desert, John continued preaching 
and baptizing at the Jordan, and was still attended by a 
crowd of followers. Between the Jordan and Jerusalem, 
and all the country round about, people kept coming and 
going in a constant stream. Of course the greater part 
returned to their homes soon after being baptized ; but some 
remained with John, to hear what more he had to say about 
the new kingdom, and thinking that, after all, he might turn 
out to be the Christ. To these disciples he made known all 
that he knew about Jesus, and so prepared them to follow 
him as the real Christ, as soon as he should appear. John 
must have wondered where Jesus had gone after his baptism, 
and why he hid himself so long ; for it is not likely that 
any one knew where he was during those forty days : yet 
John himself had spent so much time in solitude, that he 
could well understand how Jesus might love to be alone in 
prayer before beginning to preach. Besides, John already 
had such a reverence for Jesus that he did not for a moment 

115 



116 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

question any of his doings, as " the Son of Grod." The 
first thing that Jesus did, after his ^netory over Satan, was 
to go and look up John where he had left him, on the other 
side of the river ; but he went so quietly that no one noticed 
him, until John pointed him out to a few of his own disci- 
ples. What had happened to him in the desert he kept as 
a secret of his own heart, until in after-da}-s he confided it 
to his chosen friends, as a token of his sympathy with men 
in their temptations ; but John was already taught to look 
upon him as the Saviour of men from their sins. Jesus had 
found a home in the neighborhood ; and everj- day he might 
be seen walking to and fro on the bank of the river, watch- 
ing the people who came to John, and no doubt feeling 
compassion for them as they caught at every word or act 
that seemed to promise them a part in the kingdom of the 
Messiah : yet he said nothing, did nothing, to draw attention 
to himself, but waited for the first gentle opportunity of 
revealing his own grace and truth. 

One day, as he was thus walking, two of John's disciples, 
hearing their master speak the praises of Jesus, followed him 
along the bank of the river, intending to find out where he 
lived : as the custom then was, by thus following him to his 
home, they would show their desire to become his disciples. 
Hearing their footsteps, Jesus turned, and said to them, 
'' What seek ye ? '' Though their hearts were full of the 
hope that he would make himself kno^vn as the >fessiah. 



JESUS BEGINS HIS WORK. 117 

they kept back the feeling that was uppermost, and, in a 
modest and respectful way, inquired of Jesus where he 
lived, calling him rabbi, or master, and thus acknowledging 
him as a teacher or a prophet. Jesus at once invited them 
to go with him to the house ; and there they spent the whole 
day, listening to the first lessons of trutli given by the Son 
of God. One of these two was the brother of that Simon 
who became so prominent among the disciples of Christ ; 
and this Andrew showed at the very first his loving and 
confiding character by running to look up his brother, telling 
him, "We have found tlie .Christ,"' and bringing him to 
Jesus. Upon seeing Simon, Jesus gave him the name of 
Cephas^ or Peter, — '' the rock," — by which he was always 
afterwards known. The third disciple was, no doubt, 
John, the writer of the Gospel, who modestly withholds his 
name. 

What passed between those four plain men, in that little 
stone hut near the Jordan, no one of them has told us; 
though there was the beginning of that kingdom which 
Christ came to establish, — the first gathering of that com- 
pany of believers in Jesus, which, under the name of the 
Church, was destined to fill the whole world with the glory 
of its Lord. Four men — three of them fishermen from 
the Lake of Tiberias, and their leader a carpenter from the 
despised town of Nazareth — there talked together of John 

1 John i. 41. 



118 JESUS OF XAZAEETH. 

and liis baptism, of the '• kingdom of heaven " which he had 
declared to be '' at hand," of the '' wa}^ of the Loi*d " which 
was now to be " made ready."' But eager as these first 
recruits were to enlist for their new leader, and under his 
banner to rally their countrymen to the kingdom of the 
Messiah, Jesus did not announce himself as the Christ, nor 
give out any proclamation or promise, such as the Jews 
were looking for from their king. His first object was to 
attract men to himself, to his own person, through his life 
and teaching; and, so fully did he impress himself upon 
these early followers by the talk of that first day, that 
John, Andrew, and Peter continued with liim to the day of 
his death, and then became the faithful apostles of his gospel. 
For the opening of his ministry, Jesus did not choose 
Jerusalem, which was near at hand, nor the crowded scene 
where John was baptizmg, though by coming out as the 
Messiah he could soon have made a great stir in either place ; 
but he went back quietly to the remote northern district 
of Galilee, where his own home lay at Nazareth. Just as 
he was starting, he secured two other disciples, thus increas- 
ing the number to five. Philip was a townsman of Andrew 
and Peter; and, as soon as he had an invitation from Jesus 
to join the party, he followed him, with the full behef that 
in this son of Joseph he had found '*him of whom Moses in 
the law, and the prophets, did write." ^ 

^ John i. 45. 



JESUS BEGINS HIS WOEK. 119 



Before starting, he hurried to find his fi'iend Nathanael, 
and urged him to go along. But Nathanael was slow to 
admit that a man who had spent his whole life in a place that 
bore so l^ad a name as Nazareth, and who came from a family 
so obscure, could be the subject of those great and glorious 
prophecies. With doubt and astonishment he exclaimed, 
" Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ? " ^ Philip 
gave him the best possible answer, " Come and see : " do 
not judge before you know ; and do not suffer your preju- 
dice against the place to keep you from inquh'ing, and 
satisfying yourself with your own eyes concerning this 
wondrous person. 

Nathanael was a candid man, and had the reputation of 
great honesty and sincerity. As he drew near with Philip, 
Jesus said, " Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no 
guile." Astonished at hearing his own character thus 
described by a stranger, Nathanael asked, " Wlience knowest 
thou me?" Jesus answered, ''Before that Philip called 
thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee." Here 
was another startling fact. This stranger not only knew all 
about him, but knew just where he had been, and what he 
was doing. And now this cautious but candid man, seeing 
that he was read through and through, felt that Philip 
was right in saying that this was the Christ, and himself 
went even further, and confessed that such powers and 

1 John i. 46. 



120 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

wonders showed a divine presence in Jesus. " Rabbi," he 
said, " thou art the Son of God ; thou art the King of 
Israel." To- such a faith, Jesus at once promised far greater 
wonders : " Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye 
shall see heaven open, and the angels of Ged ascending and 
descending upon the Son of man." ' 

It shows how strong an impression Jesus had already 
made upon these followers, that they received without sur- 
prise this announcement of the glory of his mission, and of 
the interest that Heaven would show in his person. When 
two of these five saw the heaven opened above him on the 
mount, when again these saw the angels come to succor him 
in the garden, and finally when they all beheld him ascend 
from Bethany into the open heaven, they could remember 
these wokIs, and measure their meaning. Yet for us also it 
remains true, as Luther has said, that " when Christ became 
man, and had entered on his ministerial oflSce, and begun to 
preach, then was the heaven opened, and remains open, and 
has from that time — since the baptism of Christ in the 
Jordan — never been shut, and never will Iv^ <^^"^ iifi./Mi.r^ 
we do not see it with our bodily eyes." 

How much Xathanael meant b}- calling him the " Son of 
God," we cannot tell ; for this was a title given by the Jews 
to their ^lessiah, as one sent from God, without always 
meaning that he was divine. Jesus said nothing alx>ut this : 

* John i. 51. 




TlIK FlK^T I>l«MMriJ 



JESUS BEGINS HIS WOEK. 121 

did not refuse the title, quietly accepted it ; but he chose to 
make himself one with us by calling himself, from the very 
first, " the Son of many And here was the beginning of 
that kingdom of heaven which the prophets had foretold 
with such pictures of glory, and John had announced with 
such a stirring call to repent. Here was the appearing of 
the Christ, the Saviour, the Son of David, the Son of man, 
the Son of God ; and such the homage and the following 
which he drew to himself, — six plain, poor men, one 
known as the carpenter, and five fishermen, — setting out 
on foot for a journey of seventy miles to a country village 
that every Jew, even these fishermen themselves, despised, 
there to begin a work that all the ages since have not been 
able to measure or exhaust. 

But how was it that Jesus drew these first disciples to 
him so easily ? He did not offer them riches or honors ; for 
he had not these to give. He did not hold out the promise 
of a kingdom in which they should have the chief places ; 
and he had nothing of this sort to show. Besides, John had 
not pointed him out as a king who had come to conquer, 
but as a Lamb that was to take away the sins of the world. 
There was nothing in the outward condition or prospects 
of Jesus to tempt men to follow him in the hope of gain- 
ing any thing, either for their purses, their power, or their 
pride. 

But, on the other hand, these men were not idlers, who 



122 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

were ready to run after any new thing that might come 
along, or to take up with a strange leader in religion or in 
politics. They were men who earned their living by hard 
work, and had no time to waste in running after novelties ; 
and, as their lives afterwards show us, they were men of 
good common-sense and of honest feeling. 

From what they said about Jesus to one another, it is 
plain they were full of the notion, then so common in 
Judea, that the Messiah was soon to appear. With this 
feeling they had come with the crowd to see and hear John 
the Baptist; and their pious feelings were so deep and 
strong that they had staid with Jolin to learn more fully his 
doctrine of the Messiah. Now, John had been brought up 
by his parents in the belief that his cousin Jesus would some 
day show himself to be the Christ ; and this belief was made 
certain to him by what took place at the baptism of Jesua. 
All this he had talked over with these disciples. And so, 
with their eager expectation of the Messiah, their confidence 
in John led them to take Jesus as their teacher as soon as 
he was pointed out. Jesus did not attempt to take the 
place of John, to set him aside, and to claim his disciples. 
He made no kind of display ; but, as was before said, he 
sought to win men one by one to his person, to attach them 
to liimself, and not to gather a part}' by the oflfer of tempt- 
ing rewards. And by what we learn of Jesus afterwards as 
a teacher, from his words that have come down to us, we 



JESUS BEGINS HIS WORK. 123 

can well believe that what he said to these disciples in that 
long day's talk in the house together, and his whole manner 
of receiving them, must have attracted them to himself as 
the very centre and source of the wisdom, truth, and love 
which he had come to proclaim. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

HOW DID JESUS LOOK? 

But above all this, and as giving tone to all that Jesns 
said and did, there must have been in his countenance a 
beauty and dignity, a grace and majesty, that gave the 
impression of something extraordinary, if not supernatural, 
in his person and character. No picture of Christ, no 
description even of his personal appearance, has come down 
to us from any one who had looked upon his fiace. There 
is a story that Luke was a painter, as well as a physician, 
and that he took a portrait of Jesus, which was copied and 
handed down, and became the model head of Christian art. 
But there is no evidence that Luke ever made a picture of 
his Master ; and nowhere in his Gospel does he give so much 
as a liint of his personal appearance. It would be impossible 
to combine in one portrait and one expression all the various 
traits that we find in the character of Jesus : yet we may 
form some idea of him if we set before us the most perfect 
type of the pure Jewish race as it then was in Syria, — a 
man of medium height, finely proportioned, his figure well 

124 



HOW DID JESUS LOOK? 125 

developed by physical labor and by life in the open air, the 
hands and feet, however, small and graceful ; his complexion 
hght and clear ; the forehead broad and high, and projecting 
with lines of strength and beauty ; the profile oval ; the nose 
-lightly aquiline ; the eyes a liquid blue ; the mouth small 
and gently curved ; the lips thin, and playing with smiles or 
with sympathy, but easily compressed to firmness ; the hair 
auburn, inclining toward a golden hue, especially in the 
beard, which was full and flowing. 

But the character of his face lay in its expression, which 
combined in a wondrous degree, beauty and majesty, 
sympathy and strength, tenderness and dignity. There 
was something marvellous in his eyes, that fascinated little 
children, and drew them to his arms without fear ; that 
caused the poor, the sick, the sorrowing, to look to him with 
confidence as a friend ; that led even the worst of sinners to 
trust in his compassion ; and yet that caused the Pharisees 
to quail under his anger, the mob to make way for him to 
pass through unharmed, the soldiers to fall to the ground 
before him in Gethsemane, Peter to tremble and weep with 
shame and remorse, and the penitent thief to believe on him 
as the Lord of Paradise. Those blue eyes, as clear and 
gentle as the sky of his native Syria, as deep and tranquil 
as the lake he so much loved, yet, like the sky, capable of 
sudden flashes of Kghtning, like the lake, of sudden bursts 
of storm ; eyes welling over with sympathy at every sight 



126 JESUS OF KAZAKETH. 

of human sorrow, glistening with pit}' for the ignorant and 
the erring, beaming with grace for the poor, for the weak, 
for the i^enitent, but with a lurking indignation for the 
covetous and the proud ; eyes that, through all changes of 
expression, from their inmost depth steadily reflected the 
awful yet attractive purity of a holy love, — these eyes were 
the visible, speaking Christ, the person and the power of the 
Son of man, in which they who were pure in heart might 
even see God. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE WEDDING SURPRISE. 

The disciples of Jesus had faith enough to follow him ; 
though they must have wondered that he went to Nazareth 
rather than to Jerusalem, and took them to a carpenter's 
shop instead of the synagogue or the temple. They had 
seen and heard enough to lead them to expect a great deal 
more. From what John had told them, and what Jesus had 
said and done, they believed they had found the Christ; 
but what next ? Where were his signs from heaven ? 
Where was his kingdom ? If Jesus had taken them into 
the desert, and proposed to set up a convent on the spot 
where he had conquered Satan, and there to gather an 
order of hermits, or a school of prophets, in support of his 
doctrine and cause, these men, who had left their work and 
their homes to follow John the Baptist, would not have 
hesitated to follow him. Indeed, this would have seemed to 
them like the return of the prophet Elijah, for which the 
Jews were looking ; and they had an example of this sort 
of religious reform in the Essenes, who had their convents 
in the desert north-west of the Dead Sea. 

127 



128 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

The idea of this really pious brotherhood was, that holi- 
ness was to be gained by being very strict in keeping the 
law, by devoting one's self entirely to the service of God, 
by giving up marriage, family life, and the business of the 
world, and going into the desert to spend one's days in 
fasting and prayer. They lived in communities, having all 
property and all labor in common. They dressed alike, and 
lived very simply. When they went abroad, it was for 
works of kindness to the sick and the poor. But Jesus did 
not join the Essenes. He had just spent forty days alone 
in the wilderness in communion with God ; but this was to 
prepare himself for gouig among men as their Teacher and 
Helper, and not to teach men to follow him into the desert. 
If he had set up a monaster)*, a place to which men must go 
in order to live pious lives, how slowly must Ids religion 
have spread in the world ! how few could have complied 
with this condition ! and, just as far as men became Chris- 
tians, human life would have come to a standstill ; &mily, 
home, business, every thing, being given up in order to 
be religious. But Jesus had quite another doctrine and 
purpose for his religion. He would carry its spirit into 
the family, the school, the shop, the counting-room, the 
exchange ; and would make the world l>etter by teaching 
men how to live better in the world as it is. And so while 
his disciples were looking for him to start for Jerusalem, 
and there to set up his kingdom, he took them with him to 



THE WEDDING SURPRISE. 129 

a marriage ; and there at a wedding-party, in the midst of 
a gay company, he manifested himself as the Christ. This 
was as much a surprise to his disciples as to the other 
guests. But what a lovely view it gives us of the character 
of Jesus, and of the nature of his religion, that he made his 
first appearance as the great Prophet at this social festival, 
and used his wondrous power in making the entertainment 
pass off as pleasantly as possible ! 

Whoever he may have been as the Son of God, he began 
his ministry as a man full of all human sympathies ; and, 
whatever of sadness and sorrow may have weighed upon 
him through the sins of the world, he would counteract this 
not by separating himself and his followers from the world, 
but by carrying his presence and his religion into the family 
and society with a cheerful tone and a living power. Far 
from separating religion from happiness, or making happi- 
ness consist only in direct acts of religion, Jesus enjoyed 
the happiness of others, entered into their feelings, and 
added to their pleasures by his gifts. 

Just over the hills to the north of Nazareth, about seven 
miles distant, was the little village of Cana, where the 
mother of Jesus had relatives ; and it was at their house 
that Jesus fii-st came out openly as the Messiah. There was 
a wedding in the family ; and Mary was sent for to assist in 
entertaining the company. The servants all knew her, and 
took their orders from her as from the mistress of the house. 



130 JESUS OF XAZAKETH. 

Jesus was invited to the wedding, and also his disciples who 
had followed him home to Nazareth. A Jewish weddincr 
was a time of great rejoicing to all the friends and neighbors 
of the parties. The bridegroom and his fi'iends, with music, 
torches, and flowers, led the bride from her father's house to 
the house of the groom or his fiither, where feasting and 
merry-making went on sometimes for several days. At the 
principal supper some person of note among the guests sat 
at the head of the company, and presided over the feast. In 
the entrance of the house, or at the lower end of the dining- 
hall, there were always large jars filled with water for 
washing the hands of the guests, and for other ceremonies 
that the Jews went through with before eating. It is likely 
that these relatives of j\Iary were poor ; for their marriage- 
feast appears to have lasted only one day, and the wine gave 
out before the supper was over. Mary was told of this, and 
was anxious to save her friends the mortification of having 
the guests discover it. She came and told Jesus, plainly 
supposing that he could do something to avoid this trouble. 
This feeling on lier part was the natural expression of that 
faith which she had nursed in secret for thirty years. She 
knew that at his baptism the Spirit had declared him to be 
the Son of God ; she knew that he had been in the desert 
to make ready for his work ; she had seen his disciples, and 
heard what they had to say about him and his kingdom : 
and her lifelong faith in him as the child of so manv won- 



THE WEDDING SURPRISE. 131 

ders and promises, and of such piety and devotion, rose to 
the sublime conviction that he could do all things. Perhaps 
she betrayed too much eagerness as a mother to have Jesus 
show himself to be something wonderful ; perhaps she even 
seemed to dictate her wishes as the will of Providence : for 
some reason Jesus restrained her with a tone of dignity, 
though using the same respectful and serious address with 
which he afterwards gave his parting word from the cross. 
As in the temple, he felt once more that even the wishes 
and commands of an earthly parent must give place to the 
will of his Father in heaven. Then he was eager to begin 
his Father's work : now he did not feel that the time was 
ripe for him to act out his heavenly calling ; and he would 
not do this for curiosity, nor at the bidding of any one else. 
But his mother was possessed with the feeling that he 
would show himself to be the Son of God ; and though she 
did not further press him to what her heart so longed for, 
yet, believing in him with all her heart, she told the servants 
to do whatever he might say to them. A while after, Jesus 
told them to " fill the water-pots with water ; and they filled 
them up to the brim." ^ Thus far, all was natural. It was 
natural that Mary should have great expectations from such 
a son ; natural that she should seek to draw him out ; 
natural that the servants should acknowledge her authority, 
and obey her command ; natural that, when told to do so, 

1 John ii. 7. 



132 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

they should fill the empty water-jars as full as they could 
hold. These waiting-men certainly had no connection with 
Jesus : they were not his disciples, not even his servants. 
They fiUed the jars this time, precisely as they had filled 
them a hundred times before, — with water brought from 
the fountain where all the neighbors went for their supph'. 
But now came a marvellous surprise. At the command of 
Jesus, these same servants drew off cups from the jars, into 
which they had just poured water ; and, behold, it was wine ! 
They took this to the head of the table, not saying where 
they had got it ; and he, on tasting it, found it such good 
wine, that he sent for the bridegroom, and praised him for its 
excellence. It was the custom to serve the best wines first, 
and to follow these with wines of a poorer sort ; but, so fine 
was the flavor of this, that the president of the feast said, 
" Thou hast kept the good wine until now." The bride- 
groom was as much surprised at the compliment as his guest 
was at the wine. He had just now been in trouble because 
the wine was giving out, and had no idea where this new 
supply had come from. Of course, in a few moments it was 
noised about how the water had been turned into wine ; and 
everybody was filled with wonder. Jesus had " manifested 
forth his glory." ^ Yes, indeed ; and such glory ! — the power 
of spirit over matter, of his personal will over all created 
things. On that point there could be no mistake. He had 

1 Johu ii. 11. 



THE WEDDING SURPRISE. 133 

not touched the jars, had put nothing into them, had not 
been near them, had not* even first tasted what the servants 
drew from them. To make wine, grapes must be grown with 
care, must ripen in the sun, must be gathered and pressed ; 
then the juice must ferment, and be allowed to settle, 
and grow clear and pure. But what thus requires months 
of care and work and skill, was here done in an instant, — 
done by a mere thought, an act of will, without so much as 
the moving of a hand. Between such a cause and such an 
effect there could be no natural connection. This was a 
power above all known natural causes and operations, a 
power above mere human reach, a power wliich could come 
only from God. Yet to Jesus this was just as easy and 
natural as for his mother to speak to him, as for the servants 
to put the water into the jai*s. It was in and of his nature 
to perform such wonders ; it was simply the forth-putting 
of his spirit. But the doing of such things showed him to 
be the person that the angels had promised at his birth, — 
Emmanuel, God with us. 

Yet in this very act of divinity he linked himself most 
tenderly with our human nature; and, however we may 
wonder and adore before this manifestation of the glory of 
Jesus, we will not forget that he made it in the bosom of 
the family, and at the marriage-feast. The glory of God 
came to hallow and enrich the joys of men : the Son of God 
is still the Son of Mary, and goes from house to house as a 



184 JESUS OF KAZABETH. 

guest and a friend. And if we will but fill ourselves with 
his Spirit, so as to feel his presence, he will be the guest of 
every feast, the joy of every home, will turn the most com- 
mon wants of the household into occasions of his power and 
grace, will manifest himself in the bread we break and the 
cup we drink, and will throw around the most tender and 
lovely scenes of earth the blessing and the glory of heaven. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE WHIP. 



This scene of peace and love was followed by one of 
commotion and anger. Jesus, who just now appeared as 
the guest and friend participating in the innocent gayeties 
of life, is seen in the temple laying the whip upon the 
shoulders of those about him, and driving men and beasts 
out of the courts. This made a great stir, and came near 
raising a mob. Why did he do so ? And how could he do 
so without being seized by the guardians of the temple, or 
resisted by the men whom he handled so roughly ? 

The temple at Jerusalem was " the house of the Lord," 
the sacred place of worship for the whole Jewish nation. 
The main building was too sacred even for the Jews them- 
selves to enter. In the central part of it a room thirty feet 
square was the '^ Holy of Holies," which none but the high 
priest could approach, and he only once a year. Here were 
once kept the ark and the tables of the covenant, the golden 
censer, the golden pot of manna, and "Aaron's rod that 
budded ; " * here, too, was the mercy-seat with the cherubim 

1 Heb. ix. 4. 

135 



136 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

of glory; and in front of all was the "veil," or curtain, 
which was torn into two parts by the earthquake at the time 
of Christ's crucifixion. Before the Holy of Holies was the 
Holy Place, sixty feet by thirty, where stood the altar of 
incense, the table of show-bread, and the golden candlestick. 
In front of this, again, was a porch fifteen feet in depth, 
much wider and higher than the temple, and the entrance 
to which was by a magnificent portal hung with richly 
embroidered curtains, over which was a golden vine with 
clusters of jewels in the form of grapes. Against the main 
building, on the north and south sides, were three stories 
of chambers for the priests, and for materiaLj used in 
worship. But the roof of the temple rose above these in 
the centre, and was adorned with rows of golden spikes. 
Before the porch, and running all around the main building, 
was a wide court paved with smooth stones. This waa the 
court of the Israelites ; but it was divided into two parts by 
a balustrade ; and the inner part, next to the temple proper, 
was for the priests alone. The sides of tliis court were 
lined with porches and halls. In this was the altar for the 
burnt offerings, and the laver and other vessels and utensils 
for the use of the priests in tlie sacrifices. All around the 
balustrade the Jewish men could stand for worship; but 
women were not allowed to come up the steps to this plat- 
form. Upon a lower terrace, sepai-ated by another balus- 
trade, was a second court upon all sides of the building, to 




ill 



THE WHIP. 137 



which women were admitted. Here also were halls and 
porches for various uses. Below this again, and separated 
by another wall, was a wider area, called the Court of the 
Gentiles. Here upon all four* sides, against the outer walls, 
were great colonnades, which were divided into halls for 
the Levites and the rabbis. So, in entering the temple, one 
would first pass through a gate in the high outside wall, and 
cross the covered porch to the first, or outer court, — the 
" Court of the Gentiles," — which was open to the sky. 
Crossing this, he would come to a high balustrade and a 
flight of steps, by the side of which was a warning that no 
Gentile should go farther, under penalty of death. Passing 
up these steps, he would come to the second court, where 
Jewish women, as well as men, were allowed to stand. 
Going through another balustrade, and up a second flight of 
steps, he would come to the third and foui-th courts, really 
one area, at the same level, but divided by a low balustrade 
into the Court of the Israelites for men alone, and the Court 
of the Priests. Crossing this inner court, — the place of the 
sacrifices, — he came at last to the sacred building itself ; 
first the porch, then the Holy Place, and finally the Holy of 
Holies. 

Such was the building as it stood in the time of Christ, — 
a series of terraces, or platforms, rising in all at least forty 
feet above the summit of Mount Moriah, from the highest 
point of which the temple, built of marble and adorned 



138 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

with gold, lifted itself above all its walls, courts, gates, and 
porticos, so as to be visible from all parts of the city, and to 
catch the eye from almost every point of approach to Jerusa- 
lem. Every Jew was trained from infancy to look upon the 
temple with sacred awe, and to make at least one pilgrimage 
every year to this house of the Lord. From all parts of 
the land of Palestine, and from all parts of the world where 
Jews were living, tlie tribes came up to their holy city, sing- 
ing on the way, '' Let us go into the house of the Lord. 
Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem ! They 
shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and 
prosperity within thy palaces I Because of the house of the 
Lord our God, I will seek thy good.*' * To cherish this idea 
of the sacredness of the temple was most important, not 
only for the religious sentiment of the people, but for 
keeping alive their national feeling as Jews, especially as 
they were scattered among other nations. Nevertheless the 
convenience of the worshippers had been allowed to 
encroach upon the sacredness of the sanctuary. For the 
sacrifices which the law required, sheep, oxen, and doves 
must be provided ; and the ofiBcers of the temple insisted 
that the temple-tax should be paid in the old-fiishioned 
Jewish shekel, which was no longer coined, and was seldom 
to be had in the shops or the markets. Of course people 
from the country, who had only Roman money, and those 

^ Ps. cxxii. 




Market in the Cotut ok the (Ientilks. 



THE WHIP. 139 



coming from Egypt and Asia, who had various foreign coins, 
must go to a broker, and buy the Jewish coin with which to 
pay their dues. To save time and trouble to strangers, and 
also as a source of revenue to the temple, at the great 
festivals a market, or fair, was opened in the Court of the 
Gentiles ; and here sheep, oxen, and doves were offered for 
sale ; and money-changers sat at little tables ready to 
exchange shekels of the proper stamp and weight for other 
kinds of money. This traffic had grown up by degrees. 
The buyers were accommodated ; the sellers were sure of 
selling quickly and at a good profit ; and the priests got a 
good rent for the stalls. No doubt many would argue that 
such business was proper within the temple-walls, because 
it was limited to articles used in the temple-worship ; and, 
besides, was only allowed in the Court of the Gentiles, 
which was hardly considered sacred by the Jews, sincQ 
people of other races might enter it. Yet, if this part of the 
temple-enclosure should be turned into a market, the Jews 
themselves would soon cease to regard the upper courts, or 
even the Holy Place, with reverence. The noise of trade, 
the lowing of the cattle, the chattering of buyers and sellers, 
would rise above the voices of prayer and praise, and would 
scatter all feelings of devotion. Children would think of 
the place as qmte as much of a market as a temple ; and 
strangers who were allowed to trade within the walls would 
look upon the Jews as caring more for trade than for 



140 JESUS OF XAZARETH. 

religion. Now, as we learn from the Old Testament, from 
the earliest times the prophets were accustomed to use their 
authority in the name of the Lord, to reform any abuses in 
religion, and to purify the place or the forms of worsliip 
from corruptions. Thus the kings Hezekiah and Josiah, 
stirred up by the prophets, cleansed and purified the house 
of the Lord. Jeremiah, speaking in the name of the Lord, 
asks with indignation, " Is this liouse, wliich ye have called 
by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?"* 
And Ezekiel warns the ministers of the sanctuary to cleanse 
it of all abominations.^ 

Jesus now stood forth as a prophet, speaking in the name 
of God ; and, as the people were looking for their Messiah, 
this sudden and decided way of clearing the temple would 
lead many to ask if this was not the Christ. 

Nobody would venture to defend this traffic in the Um^.i.-; 
every one knew at least that it was wrong. And as one 
bold, earnest man can sometimes put to shame a crowd who 
are bent upon some act of wickedness, and can rule the 
passions of a mob by appealing to conscience or to fear, we 
can understand how the act, the words, and the manner of 
Jesus may have filled these profaners of the temple with the 
fear of a judgment from God, and have caused them to 
hurry themselves and their goods outside of the temple-gate. 
A sort of panic seized them ; and there was no one to take 
1 Jer. xii. 11. a Ezek. xUv. $-17. 



THE WHIP. 141 



their part. As yet Jesus had not wrought miracles in Jeru- 
salem ; but the report of his miracle at Cana had been 
spread abroad ; and this was enough to create a feeling of 
awe as he stood there with the scourge of justice in his 
hand, to purify the place that every Jew knew ought to be 
kept holy. But above all this was that majesty of look in 
the eyes of Jesus, which was spoken of in Chapter XVI., 
as a source of his sudden and wondrous power over men. 
It was his eye, more than his whip, that made the profaners 
of the temple quail before him. As he drove out the cattle 
with his whip, their owners fled from his look. The by- 
standers felt a majesty and power in his presence that gave 
a divine authority to his words, '' Take these hence : make 
not my Father's house an house of merchandise." ^ 

After the first surprise was over, some gathered courage 
enough to demand proof of his authority ; or perhaps, having 
heard a rumor of his miracle, they were curious to see one 
for themselves : so they said, " What sign showest thou unto 
us, seeing that thou doest these things?" But as Jesus 
never would work wonders just to meet the demands of 
the curious, or the doubts of the sceptical, so now lie 
answered them not by a miracle, but by a prophecy: 
" Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 

To win the favor of the Jews, that odious tyrant, Herod 
the Great, had enlarged and rebuilt the temple upon a scale 

1 John ii. 16. 



142 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

of magnificence that exceeded the glory of Solomon. The 
main building was finished by Herod ; but additions to it 
were made by his successors, so that it was pearly fift}' 
years before the work was fairly done. The Jews, thinking 
only of the huge walls and columns before them, thought 
Jesus must be either trifling or mad, to oflfer to build the 
temple in three days. Even the disciples, who could doubt 
nothing that he might say, were not able to give any mean- 
ing to these mysterious words. But when, three days after 
his crucifixion, he rose from the dead, they remembered that 
he had said this unto them.* 

Thus did Jesus ennoble the human body : first sanctify- 
ing it by making it a divine abo<le, the eai*thly house of the 
Son of God ; and next glorifying it by redeemuig it from 
the grave, and himself returning to the presence of his 
Father in the likeness of the Son of man ; a body free 
from any defect of nature, and any stain of sin ; a body in 
which dwelt all the fulness of God ; a body feeling every 
touch and sympathy of our human pains and griefs, yet 
wliich even the wounds of the nails and the spear could not 
mar, nor death destroy ; the true apotheosis of man, for 
which the poetry and art of the Old World, and the science 
of the New, have labored, — man no more of the earth 
earthy, the temple of the Father, the perfected, enfranchised, 
glorified Son of God. 

1 Jolm ii. 22. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Christ's first pupil. 

It would not take long for all Jerusalem to hear of the 
uproar at the temple, — how a strange prophet from Galilee 
had driven out buyers and sellers, sheep and oxen, and 
nobody had dared to oppose him; for, though there was 
no such thing as a newspaper to report the scene, news 
spread very quickly from mouth to mouth in a city so 
closely built as Jerusalem, where the houses were crowded 
together in narrow streets, and every house was filled with 
occupants from the ground to the roof. As the temple 
stood upon a hill facing the greater part of the town, any 
commotion there would attract the notice of multitudes; 
and an outcry on Mount Moriah could be heard across the 
ravine, upon Zion and Acra, where most of the houses were. 
Besides, everybody went to the temple, not only for worship, 
but to meet friends, and hear the news. And at this time 
the city was full of strangers who had come to the great 
feast, who spent their time mostly at the temple, and who 
would themselves be among the buyers of animals for 

143 



144 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

sacrifice, and would wish to change money for their taxes. 
So the report of what Jesus had said or done wo^d spread 
like wild-fire through the city ; and everybody would be 
running to the temple to catch a sight of the bold stranger. 

The excitement caused by this act of authority in the 
temple was heightened by acts of wonder' performed in the 
next following days; for, though Jesus refused to give 
the Jews " a sign " for his doing what their law and their 
own consciences taught them wa^j right, he did afterwards, 
in the most quiet and natural way, do wonders for the sick, 
the lame, the blind, as he met these in his walks through 
the streets, or as they were brought to him by their friend:*. 
John tells us that " many beheved in his name, when they 
saw the miracles which he did." * How many, or what 
these were, John does not say ; but, from what we know of 
the miracles of Jesus, we may be sure that these first won- 
ders were for doing good, and not for showing power or 
getting a name. He would not speak to the eyes nor the 
fancy of men by signs, but to their hearts and their faith by 
living truth. And so when people who had seen or heard 
of his miracles crowded around him, and called him the 
Christ, and said tliey were ready to follow him as their king, 
he knew them too well to commit himself to them, or to 
make himself the leader of such a party of enthusiastic bui 
visionary followers. 

^ John ii. 23. 



( 




THK ruARi>rK>. 



Christ's first pupil. 145 

What sort of followers he wished, what kind of a king- 
dom he meant to set up, he made plain to a pupil who came 
to him for the first lesson in the new faith. This pupil was 
himself a " master in Israel : " he belonged to the san- 
hedrim, or council of seventy, the supreme court of the 
Jews for religious affairs, which had control over all the 
synagogues in Palestine, which regulated matters of faith 
and worship, and ordered the punishment of heretics, 
idolaters, and apostates. It was this same body that at last 
brought Jesus to trial, and after his death had Peter and 
John put in prison ; and that sent Saul of Tarsus to search 
the synagogues for Christians, and bring them to punish- 
ment.^ A member of this grand council was required to 
know perfectly the law of Moses, and all the rules and 
doctrines which had grown up around it, all the traditions 
of the elders, and the customs of the s^Tiagogues. Hence 
the people looked up to every such rabbi as a teacher and 
an authority in every thing relating to religion. As a matter 
of course, such men were apt to be proud of their wisdom, 
and overbearing toward the people. They made a show of 
their prayers and piety; they loved "to sit in Moses' 
seat," and pretended to speak with his authority, just as 
nowadays the pope calls himself the successor of Peter, 
and claims that the doctrines and laws which he gives forth 
have the authority of God. But among the seventy mem- 

1 Acts ix. 1, 2. 



146 JESUS OF NAZABETH. 

bers of the grand council were some truly honorable and 
pious men, who used their ofi&ce for the good of the people, 
and honestly sought to know and teach the truth: Such a 
one was Joseph of Arimathea, who refused to join in the 
outcry against Jesus, and who, after his crucifixion, begged 
his body, and laid it in his own new tomb. And such a 
one, too, was Nicodemus. Once, when the sanhedrim sent 
officers to arrest Jesus, Nicodemus stood up for him, and 
said, " Doth our law judge any man before it hear him, and 
know what he doeth?" ^ This shows a candid mind, will- 
ing to know the truth, and wishing to see fair play. And 
after the crucifixion he also went to the grave of Jesus with 
costly spices to anoint and embidm the body of him whom 
his colleagues had first condemned by Jewish law, and then 
had persuaded the Roman governor to put to death.' It 
was natural enough that such an honest soul should see in 
the miracles of Jesus a proof that "God was with him," 
and should wish to know him and to leam from him as ** a 
teacher come from God.'' But wishing to keep his influence 
over the people, and knowing how easy it would be to make 
enemies at a time when the whole city was full of rumors, 
parties, and prejudices, he went to Jesus by night, intending 
first to satisfy himself before doing any thing that should 

^ John vii. 50. 

^ Jolin xix. 39. The Roman government had taken away from the 
sanhedrim the power of capital punishment. Jesus was put to death 
after the Roman custom. 



Christ's first pupil. 147 

commit him as a disciple. It was no small thing, liowever, 
for such a man to make up his mind to go even in this 
quiet, private way, and ask to be taught by a stranger 
who was already despised as a Nazarene, and hated as a 
reformer. 

Of course we have only a brief report of what passed 
between Jesus and Nicoderaus. One or the other of them 
must afterwards have told it to John, — most likely Nicode- 
mus, when, after the death of Jesus, he joined his disciples, 
— and John has given only the main points of this most 
interesting talk. To understand what Jesus said of being 
*'born again," we must keep in mind that the Jews looked 
upon their commonwealth, or, as we should now say, their 
church, as the kingdom of God, and upon membei*ship in 
that as necessary to getting to heaven. All who were not 
born Jews were heathen, and as such were shut out from 
the kingdom of heaven ; but a heathen might become a 
member of that kingdom by giving up his idols, and 
embracing the faith and the worship of the Jews. 

In the temple at Jerusalem, there was a court to which 
such " proselytes " could be admitted. Owing to the great 
change in their ideas and beliefs, and also in their lives and 
habits, produced by this change of religion, they were said 
to be new creatures, or new-born. They were compared to 
a slave who had been set free, and adopted as a child. We 
use this very expression nowadays to describe one who has 



148 JESUS OF NAZAKETH. 

given up bad habits to lead a better life. When a prodigal, 
a profane swearer, a drunkard, a thief, is reformed, we say, 
" He is a new man." As a sign of this great change, it was 
a custom of the Jews to baptize, heathen whom thej 
received as proselytes to their faith ; and thus they were 
"born of water" into the ''kingdom of heaven;" from 
being servants of the Devil, they became children of God. 
All this was perfectly familiar to Nicodemus, so that the 
words of Jesus need not have puzzled him. But, just 
because such words were so familiar, it puzzled him the 
more to guess what Jesus could mean by insisting that he^ 
and every one, must be " born again " in order to enter the 
kingdom of God. Nicodemus had the idea, that to be of 
the seed of Abraham, was also to be a sou of God ; that to 
belong to the commonwealth of Israel, was to be in the 
kingdom of God : just as being born in America makes one 
an American, no matter what may be his name, his race, 
his color, or his manner of life. He was bom a Jew, — born 
within the kingdom of God. He had risen to be a " master 
in Israel." And the idea that he should now be baptized like 
any heathen, and become a new man, in order to enter that 
kingdom, seemed as strange and absurd as that he shoidd 
actually be born over again as a little child. 

But Jesus taught him that only they are God's true 
children who in their hearts love him and do his will, that 
the real kingdom was first of all in one's own soul. When 



Christ's first pupil. 149 

we learn to govern all our thoughts, our feelings, our 
wishes, our aims, by the spirit of truth, of kindness and 
good- will; when we keep down all bad passions, all evil 
words, all wicked thoughts, all wrong desires, and only wish 
and try to do what is right and good, — then " the kingdom 
of heaven " is begun in our hearts. We have the same spirit 
which makes the angels holy and blessed. Now, the wish to 
please God, the desire to obey him in all things, to take his 
will instead of our own, to do every thing that God would 
have us do, and nothing that God would not have us do, — 
this one spirit of loving obedience to God includes all the 
rest, — truth, kindness, good-will, purity of thought, of 
feeling, of conduct ; and hence this heavenly spirit is also 
called the kingdom of God. God rules in the heart as its 
king. But this spirit of love to God and man was first 
shown to us in its perfection by Jesus. In every act of his 
life he did the will of his Father in heaven ; and in all his 
words and acts towards men he showed the most perfect 
love and good-will. Thus it was that by his preaching and 
his hfe he brought again to selfish and sinful men that king- 
dom of God which was set up at first in Paradise. And 
since it is through Christ that we are brought back from sin 
to holiness, from selfishness to love, this new feeling of 
gentle and holy love in our hearts is also called the king- 
dom of Christ. When we love Jesus as our Saviour, obey 
him as our Teacher, serve him as our Master, then the 



150 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

kingdom of the Messiah, the kingdom of God, the kingdom 
of heaven, is begun in our hearts. 

Children are like their parents in looks, in tones, in man- 
ners, in ideas, in temperament, in character. So when we 
have taken the will of God to rule us, and the word of God 
to be our guide ; when we seek to please God in our doings, 
strive to become like God in our character, — then we are 
called " the children of God," we are " born again." And 
since this great change of giving up our selfish wills, and 
taking God into our hearts as king, comes from the Spirit of 
God acting upon our minds, we are said to be " bom of the 
Spirit." To put away evil thoughts, passions, desires, habits, 
and to fill the mind and heart with what is pure, lovely, and 
good, is to make the inner man, or soul, clean, as the outer 
man, or body, is made clean by water ; and hence to be bap- 
tized is a sign of this inner cleansing of the mind. And so 
it is, that on giving up selfish and sinful thoughts and ways, 
and in place of these taking into our hearts the pure love 
of God and good-will toward men, we are " born of water 
and of the Spu'it " as the children of God, and enter into 
the kingdom of heaven. Thus the lesson of Jesus to Nico- 
demus, though simple enough for a little child, was deeper 
and broader than all the wisdom of the world. The greatest 
masters of science and philosophy must still come to Jesus 
in the spirit of a little child, to be born anew of his love. 



CHAPTER XX. 



THE WOIMAN OF SAISIAEIA. 



The bustle and confusion of the feast were over. The great 
camp of pilgrims outside the city-walls was broken up ; and 
the crowds that for days had filled the streets and the temple 
were now scattered over the neighboring hills, moving home- 
ward in slow caravans, singing the "songs of Zion," and 
telling of what they had seen and heard in the city. The 
strange prophet from Galilee, who had driven the traders out 
of the temple, and had done so many wonders, was the talk 
of everybody ; and thousands of tongues carried the name of 
Jesus over the land, if not as rapidly, yet as widely, as if 
there had been daily papers and a telegraph to report his 
sayings and doings. Jerusalem itself had settled down into 
its every-day life ; the Roman soldiers, relieved from the care 
of half a million strangers, were lounging about the forts 
and the guard-houses ; the priests went through the daily 
round of prayers and sacrifices with only a handful of 
worshippers ; the hangers-on at the city-gates and the 
porches of the temple whiled away their time in disputing 

L51 



152 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

over rumors of the Messiah ; the cattle-dealers and money- 
changers sneaked back into the Court of the Gentiles, their 
fear of Jesus being turned to hatred ; and the Pharisees, 
with all their pretended zeal for holy things, winked at this 
abuse of the temple, because they wished to raise a part}' 
against Jesus, whose influence over the people they both 
hated and feared. 

Meantime, Jesus had gone into the country on the borders 
of the Jordan, a region already sacred as the scene of his 
baptism, of his temptation, and of the first calling of his 
disciples. He could not now, as then, go witli his disciples 
alone ; but a great many from Jerusalem and the neighbor- 
ing places, excited by what they had seen and heard of him, 
followed him on his journey ; and many strangers also 
delayed going home from the Passover, from curiosity to 
learn whether this might not turn out to be the Christ. All 
who confessed their belief in his doctrine of " the king- 
dom of God," and their willingness to lead a new life, were 
baptized in this new faith ; and, so many were there, that it 
was even said that " Jesus made and baptized more disciples 
than John." ^ John himself was still baptizing at a place 
called Salim,- farther up the valley of the Jordan; and some 
of his disciples, who had not followed Jesus, tried to stir 
up rivalry by reporting that all men were running after 
Jesus. But John was too great for jealousy, too noble for 
1 John iv. 1. « John iii. 23. 



THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. 153 

rivalry, too humble for ambition, too true and good a servant 
to seek for himself the honor that he knew to belong to his 
Master ; and, as he had already proclaimed Jesus to be the 
Son of God, he said again, " I am not the Christ ; but I am 
sent before him. Now that he is come, my joy is complete. 
He must increase, but I must decrease." ^ Jesus afterwards 
paid a tribute to John, in which he gave him higher praise 
than ever fell from his lips concerning any other man. '^ He 
was a burning and a shining Hght ;" ^ " Among those that 
are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John 
the Baptist. "3 

Though teaching and baptizing at points so near, Jesus and 
John did not meet at this time ; and, indeed, they never met 
again. The Pharisees kept spies upon them, and would 
have been glad to get rid of them both, though they did not 
quite dare to molest either. But, soon after, John was cast 
into prison by Herod, who at last was betrayed by Herodias 
and her daughter into putting him to death. These signs of 
trouble caused Jesus to quit Judea ; for, though he was 
ready at any moment to lay down his life for men, he was 
not willing to throw it away before he had finished his 
ministry of truth and love, and had gathered the materials 
of his church. Besides, he wished to begin his public 
teaching in his native Galilee ; and so, accompanied by the 
little band of disciples, he set out for his home. 

1 John ill. 38-31. « John v. 35. ^ Luke vii. 28. 



154 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

They journeyed on foot, supplying their daily wants from 
the little means which some of them had saved from fishing, 
and he from his earnings at his father's trade. From the 
banks of the Jordan, they went up one of the rocky ravines 
that slant off to^Nard the north-east, till they struck the 
great highway of travel from Jerusalem to Samaria. Here 
they came upon a hroad and beautiful plain, like a Western 
prairie, without ridge, break, or fence, covered with ripening 
grain and brilliant flowers, but, unlike a prairie, dotted Jilso 
with clumps of ohve-trees, and bounded on all sides by 
ranges of hills and mountains. A walk of three or four 
hours across this plain of ^Miiklina brought them to its 
north-western corner, where the loveliest valley of all Pales- 
lino opens into it, between the famous mountains Gerizim 
and Ebal, known as tlie mountains of blessing and of 
cursing.^ Ebal, a steep, rocky ridge, bare of trees and vege- 
tation, with frowning precipices twelve hundred feet high, 
looks as desolate and forbidding as if all the curses had 
fallen upon it. But the valley seems to have caught and 
kept all the blessing. Fountains gushing forth upon every 
side, purling brooks, fields of grass, gardens of vegetables, 
orchards of fruit-trees, groves of olives and midberries, the 
wliole enlivened with the music of birds, and decked with 
the most wondrous hues of blue, purple, and violet in the 
air and the sky, make this secluded vale a very paradise 
of beauty and of peace. 

1 Deut. xi. 20, xxvii. 11: Josh. xiiv. 1. 



THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. 155 

This was the first view that Abram had of the land of 
promise ; and here he built his first altar to the Lord.^ This 
was the spot that Jacob chose for his home when he returned 
from Haran with his family and his cattle ; here he bought 
a piece of land which he gave afterwards to his son Joseph ; ^ 
and here Joseph was brought up from Egypt to be buried.^ 
Into this same valley Joshua led the people ; and having 
ranged them in opposite ranks, six tribes on each side, he 
made them swear obedience to the law of God, while the 
Levites repeated each commandment, and the mountains 
echoed its blessing and its curse. And now the long- 
promised Seed of Abraham,* the Star of Jacob,^ the true 
Leader and Saviour of Israel,^ came into this home of the 
patriarchs, this resting-place of the warriors, with the gospel 
of blessing and peace, taking away the curse, and giving the 
water of life. But he came as a tired, hungry man, sharing 
the common wants and pains of our every-day life, and thus 
putting himself in sympathy with those Avhom he came to 
save, as if in personal need of their sympathy and help. 

The little party had started early, and had walked many 
weary miles ; and it was already high noon, hot and sultry, 
as they rounded the base of Mount Gerizim, and came down 
upon the valley of Shechem. But the town was a good two 
miles farther, stretching its white walls in the sun on a 

1 Gen. xii. 6. ^ Qq^^ xxxiii. 19 ; John iv. 5. ^ Josh. xxiv. 32. 
* Gal. ill. 16. 6 Num. xxiv. 17. « Heb. iv. 8, 9. 



156 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

ridge at the top of the valley ; and so, sending his disciples 
on to buy food, Jesus turned aside to the right, and sat down 
to rest under the shade of a mulberry-tree by the side of 
Jacob's well. This well was dug by the patriarch himself, 
in order that he might have plenty of water, on his own 
premises, for his great herds of cattle ; for in Palestine, 
where in the long dry season the streams and fountains run 
low and sometimes fail, a well is often held as private 
property ; and, though there were so many riUs and springs 
in the valley of Shechem, Jacob may have had none upon 
his own land, or at least he would wish the further security 
of a good well of his own ; and so, b}^ boring through the 
rocky soil to a great depth,* he struck a bed of water that 
never since has failed ; for, after almost four thousand years, 
the thirsty travellers of to-day, Jews, Samaritans, Christians, 
and Mohammedans, all alike cherishing the name of the 
patriarch, can say, " Our father Jacob drank of this well 
himself, and his children, and his cattle." 

At the time of the story, the well was in the keeping of 
the Samaritans, who made Shechem the headquarters of 
their tribe. Tliese were the descendants of the common 
people of Assyria, who were sent to occupy the country after 
the Israelites had been carried off captive to Babylon ; and, 
though they kept up some notions and customs of their old 
idol-worship, they had so far adopted the religion of the 
1 I found the well about seventy feet deep. 



THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. 157 

Jews, that they kept the law of Moses as sacred, and had 
built a temple on the top of Gerizim, to the God of the 
patriarch.^ They even claimed that this temple was more 
holy than that at Jerusalem ; and, like the Jews, they were 
looking for a Messiah who should come as the great Teacher 
and Saviour. But between the Jews and the Samaritans 
there was a deep and lasting hatred. The Jews despised the 
Samaritans, because they were a foreign race, or, at best, a 
mixture of foreigners with the poor Israelitish peasants who 
had escaped going into captivity ; and also because they did 
not acknowledge the later prophets, as well as Moses, for 
teachers and guides. And the Samaritans hated the Jews 
for despising them, and for refusing their help in rebuilding 
Jerusalem and the temple after the captivity.^ Though 
they did not object to trading together, — for business 
commonly gets the better of national grudges and of 
religious scruples, — and though they often had to pass 
through each other's territory, yet Jews and Samaritans 
had as little to do with one another as possible, and were 
ready at any time to pick a quarrel. It was to the chief 
city and sanctuary of these jealous and rival neighbors that 
our little company of Jewish travellers had come, as they 
were returning from their own capital and temple, after the 
feast of the Passover. 

Jacob's well was too distant from the town to be much 
1 2 Kings xvii. 24-34. a Ezra iv. 2-6. 



158 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

frequented : yet women from the neighboring hamlets, and 
laborers in the fields near by, made use of it ; and now 
and then one would come all the way from Shechem, 
to get a jar of the cool, clear water which had been blessed 
by the patriarch. So it happened, that, soon after Jesus had 
taken his seat at the well-side, a Samaritan woman, who 
perhaps was on her way home from her morning's work in 
the fields, stopped at the well to fill her water-pot. So little 
was the well used, that there was no common bucket there ; 
and the stranger, who had nothing to draw with, begged of 
her a drink of water. 

Now, the woman, perceiving that he was a Jew, could not 
help expressing her surprise that he should be willing to ask 
a favor of a Samaritan. For how could she imagine that 
this tired, thii-sty traveller had come to do away the antipa- 
thies of race and the disputes of religion, through the spuit 
of humanity and the ministry' of love ; and that this simple 
request for a drink of water, from one brought up to hate 
her nation, was itself a token of the new gospel of peace and 
love? Instead of taking up her taunt about Jews and 
Samaritans, Jesus mildly answered, " If thou knewest the 
gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to 
drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have 
given thee living water." ^ 

These words were a puzzle. What water could the stranger 

1 John iv. 10. 



THE WOMAN OF SAIVIAKIA. 159 

mean? Not out of the well; for it is deep, and he has 
nothing to draw with, and could not even get a drink for 
himself. Does he perhaps know of some better fountain ? or 
has he power, like Moses, to make water gush out of the 
rock ? Is he greater than our father Jacob, who gave us 
this well ? Could there be any better water than this ? and 
what is the living water that the stranger speaks of ? It 
did not help her puzzle when Jesus went on to say, *' Who- 
soever drinketh of this water shall thirst again ; but whoso- 
ever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never 
thirst ; but the water that I shall give him shall be in 
him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life."^ 
As water satisfies thirst, so what Jesus had to give — the 
truth, the grace, the love, of his Father — would quench 
those longings of the soul for good, which often burn like 
the thirst of fever ; and would supply motives, feelings, 
hopes, consolations, joys, that, like a spring bubbling up 
within the soul, should be a source of life and satisfaction 
that could never be exhausted. This water more than 
satisfies thirst: it prevents it, and suppresses the longing 
after happiness by a fulness of peace that leaves nothing to 
be desired. When once the soul is rightly opened toward 
God, and draws its life from his Spirit, it does not need to 
go hunting the world for happiness, seeking it in nature, in 
science, in art, in money, in pleasures, in fashion, in change, 

1 John iv. 13, 14. 



160 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

and crying, "Who will show me any good? " but it has its 
blessedness witliin, and is so f iiU of the spirit of good, that 
it sees good in every thing, gets good from every thing, and 
does good to all. This is the fountain within, that never 
fails. 

All this, so easy for us now to understand as the meaning 
of Christ's words, and so true and beautiful to those who 
have felt it, was more and more a mystery to the woman at 
the well ; and she could only stammer out, " Sir, give me 
tliis water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw/' 
Glad enough would she be to get such a relief from care and 
work, from trouble and pain, as would come from never 
feeling thirst again ! But the true relief must be inward, 
and the living water could spring up in the soul only 
through faith ; and so it was necessary to open her eyes in 
some way to the wants of her soul, and to inspire confidence 
in Jesus as a spiritual teacher. Puzzled as she was about 
this "living water," she had begun to see something in the 
stranger's look and manner, as well as in his words, that 
marked him for no common man, and made her so eager to 
listen, that she set down her water-pot, and quite forgot her 
errand at the well. Pausing in the conversation, Jesus now 
told her to go and call her husband. This seemed to her 
simply as if he wanted a witness before telling the secret of 
the living water. But she soon found that it was a way of 
getting at the secrets of her life, and showing her how much 










• I 



Thb Woman of Samaria. 



THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. 161 

she needed an inward spiritual peace ; for, when she turned 
aside the question, Jesus showed her that he knew how 
irregular her life had been, and how evil it then was. 
Startled that a perfect stranger could thus read her char- 
acter, and filled with awe at his solemn and searching 
manner, she exclaimed, ''Sir, I perceive that thou art a 
prophet." 

But it is not pleasant to talk over our faults ; and so, 
turning off from the facts of her own life, which troubled 
her conscience, she asked his opinion on a dispute about 
holy places between the Jews and the Samaritans. " Our 
fathers worshipped in this mountam; and ye say that in 
Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." ^ 
And now this woman, blindly feeling after the true religion, 
has stumbled upon the very question that Jesus had come to 
solve, — How weak, erring, sinful men can approach God 
with worship, and find him a Father? Altars, temples, 
sacred places, had their uses in days of ignorance, but now 
had had their day, and were not worth contending about. 
The spirit, not the place, makes the worship; and a holy 
heart will make all places holy. For God is spiiit : he is 
not a form, an image, shut up in a temple, not a body con- 
fined to some one sacred spot. His nature, his essence, is 
spirit. He is a being of thought and feeling ; and we must 
worship him with thought and feeling, with the homage of 

1 John iv. 19. 



164 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

him to eat, he gave the strange answer, " I have meat to eat 
that ye know not of." 

As, in giving living water to the woman, he had forgotten 
his own thirst, so, in his eagerness to proclaim the gospel, he 
forgot his hunger, and was so strengthened and sustained by 
spiritual thoughts and feelings that he could' say, " My meat 
is to do the will of Him that sent me." Pointing to the 
fields where the grain was slowly ripening, he commanded 
his disciples to begin their work as reapers in the harvest 
of souls. Already this was before them ; for the excited 
woman, running to the city, had told everybody of the won- 
derful stranger, asking, "Is not this the Christ?" and now 
she was hurrying back, with the whole town after her, eager 
to hear and judge for themselves. And, so gracious and 
wonderful were the words of Jesus, that these Samaritans be- 
lieved upon this Jewish stranger, and said, " This is indeed 
the Christ, the Saviour of the world." Yes, indeed, the 
Saviour, at once all-sympathizing and all-suffering, coming 
so near to us by sharing our weakness, bringing us so near 
to himself by giving us his strength ; now, weary, hungry, 
thirsty, sending his disciples for food, and cra\ing drink of 
a stranger; and yet having within him strength and life 
for the whole sinking, dying race of men. "\Miat divine love 
and grace sit upon the brow of the weary, fainting man! 
What human weakness and s}Tnpathy convey '* the gift of 
God!" 



CHAPTER XXL 



THE MOB AT NAZARETH. 



At Shechem Jesus performed no miracles : yet many of 
the Samaritans, simply upon hearing him talk, believed in 
him, and acknowledged him to be the Christ. But the 
Pharisees at Jerusalem, and the Jews everywhere, demanded 
" a sign," insisted that he should work miracles ; and even 
then they would not believe. The trouble with the Jews 
was, that a fixed political idea had pretty much taken the 
place of religion, and — as we must constantly keep in mind 
in the story of Jesus' life — their hopes and wishes for the 
Messiah were, that he would come as a king, and drive the 
Romans out of the country, and set up the Jewish throne 
again, with such splendor as it had in the days of Solomon,^ 

1 Dr. Schauffler once said to me in Constantinople, " The Greeks are 
the least hopeful of all the races we have to deal with : the great obsta- 
cle to their conversion is Constantinople.'' He meant that the Greeks 
still dream of their old empire of Byzantium, and hope one day to win 
Constantinople froni the Turks. But for this they must depend upon 
Russia ; and, since Russia is the head of the Greek Church, they must 
remain true to their church. This political hope has become a chief 

165 



166 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

And so, because Jesus came of a poor family, and went 
about on foot, and did not try to get up an insurrection, nor 
to raise an army, and preached that they should repent, and 
lead holy lives, they were slow to hear his doctrine about 
the "kingdom of heaven/' A strong and showy kingdom 
on earth, with Jerusalem as its capital, would have suited 
them much better. The Jews had turned all the prophecies 
of their Bible into this political channel, and had covered 
the simple spiritual teaching of their law with all sorts of 
traditions that took the life out of it.* But the Samaritans 
had none of these jiolitical hopes for themselves, and no 
such worldly notions about the Christ who was to come. 
They looked for him as a great and perfect teacher ; and so 
their hearts were more open to the words of Jesus, and he, 
though a Jew, found more favor with them than with his 
own countrymen. Tliis was soon shown at Nazareth. 

Not long after liis visit at Shechem, Jesus returned to the 
home of his childhood. On the way he stopped at Cana, 

article of their religious faith. Just so it was with the Jews in the 
time of Christ. They looked for a Messiah to restore the kingdom to 
Israel. 

^ It was natural that around the laws that were written in the Penta- 
teuch, there should grow up a body of customs, interpretations, and 
decisions, which came to be looked uiK>n as a part of the divine law 
itself. These were known as the '• Oral Law ; " and many serines aet 
these commentaries above the stiitute-law itself. Hence Jesus said, " Ye 
have made the commandment of God of none effect by your traditions ** 
(Matt. XV. C). 




THK SVN\';'»':t I VI \\/vi;kth 



THE MOB AT NAZABETH. 167 

where he had performed his first miracle, — turning water 
into wine. While he was there, a nobleman who lived at 
Capernaum, about sixteen miles distant, whose son was very 
ill, came to Jesus to beg that he would go and heal him ; for 
he had heard of the miracles that Jesus had wrought at 
Jerusalem. After testing a while the nobleman's faith, Jesus 
told him, that, if he would go home, he should find his son 
cured. Trusting in the word and the power of Jesus, the 
nobleman hastened home. On the way his servants met him 
with the good news that his child was well ; and he found 
that he began to recover at the very time when Jesus had 
said that he would live. The news of this wonder, as well 
as of all the wonders he had done in Jerusalem, went before 
him to Nazareth ; and, when he reached his home, the 
people expected great things of their townsman. 

The very next sabbath gave everybody an oj)portunity to 
hear the teaching of Jesus. Though the temple of Jerusa- 
lem was the chief place of worship for the whole nation, and 
the only place for sacrifices, every town had a synagogue, 
where on the sabbath day prayers were offered, and the 
books of Moses and the prophets were read. At the upper 
end of the synagogue, which always faced toward Jerusalem, 
were raised seats for the scribes and Pharisees, the rulers, 
and other chief men. In front of these was a platform with 
a little desk, or pulpit, at which the minister stood to read 
the prayers and the Scriptures. The books of the law and 



168 JESUS OF KAZABETH. 

of the prophets were divided into sections ; and one of each 
was read every sabbath, and then explained by the reader 
or some other capable person. The chief miniBter« or reader, 
had assistants who could take his place in his ab0eiice« or 
could assist in the services when he was present. Some- 
times the minister would c«'dl upon others who had a good 
name for wisdom or piety, or upon distinguiiihed strangers, 
to come up to the platform, and read. And so it was that 
Jesus was singled out ; and, after the law had been read, 
was invited to read the lesson from the prophets. The 
lesson for the day was exactly what he would wish to saj 
about the work that he had now be<^un as a new prophet, or 
teacher : ^^ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he 
hath anointed mo to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath 
sent mo to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to 
the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind ; to set at 
liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year 
of the Lord.'' * The book was written upon parchment, in 
the form of a roll, tied around with ribbons ; so, when Jesus 
had finished reading, he rolled this up again, and handed it 
to the minister to put back into its place. It was the cus- 
tom for teachers to sit while giWng instruction ; and Jesus 
took his seat, and began to speak ui>on the words that he 
had read. All eyes were f;istened ui>on him ; there was a 
breathless stillness in the house ; and, as he went on to show 

1 l8S.lzil. 



THE MOB AT NAZARETH. 169 

how these sayings should now come to pass, everybody was 
filled with wonder and admiration at his tender and gracious 
words. What he said at the beginning is not reported ; but, 
from all that we do know of his preaching, we may suppose 
that he spoke of comfort for the sorrowing, of mercy for the 
penitent, of deliverance for the oppressed, of help for the 
needy, of light for the ignorant, of peace for the troubled ; 
and promised such blessings as these to all who should truly 
love and trust and serve his Father in heaven. This was 
good news indeed : it put new life and meaning into words 
that from childhood every one had heard read in the syna- 
gogue ; and it kindled a hope that the kingdom of the 
Messiah might even come in their day. But, though their 
hearts were stirred for a moment by these spiritual feelings, 
their minds began to yield to doubts ; and their very wonder 
that Joseph's son should speak in such a way gave place to 
the question, by what right he should make such promises. 
" So, then," they began to say in their hearts, '* if ho is able 
to talk in this way, and if he takes it upon him to make 
such promises, let him show us one proof that he is right ; 
let him do such wonders here as we have heard of his doing 
in other places. Let him give like honor to his own city.*' 

Though no one said this aloud, Jesus knew what they 
were all thinking of; and he resolved to see how far 
they would accept the plain spiritual meaning of their 
own Bible, and would obey the truth that spoke directly to 



170 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

their souls, and which no miracle could make more true or 
plain. He had set before them the true kingdom of God, 
and they had shown that they felt his words. He had told 
them of grace, mercy, peace, salvation ; and now he would 
know whether, hke the Samaritans, they really wi&hed and 
prized such gifts of heaven, or had only a curiosity to see 
him do some strange thing. This he had a right to demand 
of the people of Nazareth. He had been brought up among 
them : they knew all about his life and character from 
childhood. They needed no testimon}' concerning himself; 
and they were able to judge in their own minds and hearts 
of the truth of what he said. They had already praised his 
" gracious words ; " but he knew well enough that they 
wished him to flatter their pride, to set them above their 
neighbors, and to display his power for the honor of their 
city. 

What he had said was wonderful ; and if only he would 
DO wonders, so as to chaw the whole country to Nazareth to 
see and hear their great Teacher and Prophet, they would 
be ready to claim him as the Christ. Now, Jesus wanted no 
such fame and no such followers. He wanted to draw men 
to his Father for the love of truth and goodness, to draw 
their hearts away from sin, to make their hves better, nobler, 
purer ; and to draw them to himself because he taught them 
to be just and true and good. But he knew how such 
teachmg had always been rejected by his countrymen ; how 



THE MOB AT NAZAEETH. 171 

proud they were to be called the people of God, yet how 
unwilling to live as the children of God ; how they boasted 
of Abraham as their father, read the law of Moses, and 
sang the songs of David, yet had beaten and killed the 
prophets. And so, instead of doing wonders for them, he 
reminded them that "no prophet is accepted in his own 
country ; " and that God had often sent special blessings to 
those who were not of Israel, as to the widow of Sarepta^ 
and to Naaman the Syrian.^ At these words the whole 
assembly started up in a rage. A moment before, they had 
not words enough to praise Jesus; they felt proud of 
Joseph's son, and were looking to the great honor he should 
bring to the town ; but instead of humoring their fancies, 
and showing them signs from heaven, he had openly 
slighted his townsmen, and had offered to do for outsiders, 
and even for heathen, what he would not do for them. 

It takes but little to kindle a mob to fury when once the 
fire is started. Nobody stopped to think of the synagogue, 
or of the sabbath ; nobody spoke up for the good life of 
Jesus among them ; nobody remembered the good words he 
had just spoken ; nobody thought of his right to be heard 
and judged by the law. They were filled with rage : they 
rushed upon him, and dragged him out of the synagogue ; 
the crowd pushing, shouting, yelling, cursing, drove him 
through the streets and out of the city, till they came to 
the edge of the hill. 

1 1 Kings xvii. 9. 20 Kings v. 



172 



JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



At Rome, it was the custom to throw certain criminalfi 
from a steep side of the hill upon which the Capitol was 
built, that they might be dashed to pieces on the rocks 
below. The Jews appear to have had a like custom ; and 
the mob at once took up the idea of getting rid of Jesus in 
this way. But, as a mob acts without reason, some little 
thing may turn it from its purpose as quickly as it was 
started at the first ; or some sudden fear, pity, remorse, or 
even a whim, may cause it at the last moment to halt, to 
change about, or to disperse as easily as it ran together ; 
and when a mob begins to waver, or its leaders show signs 
of hesitation, its power has gone by. At such a moment, 
coolness and firmness may save a man from sudden violence ; 
and a decided word or look may put to shame those who 
were crying out for his life. Mirabeau, the idol of the 
people, the master of the assembly, the saviour of France, 
awoke one morning to see the avenues leading from his 
house to the Hall of Deputies filled with angry crowds, who 
were hooting his name as a traitor, and threatening to hang 
him on a tree. Against the entreaties of his friends, he 
went out among them, sajang, *' I shall return triiumphant, or 
piecemeal ; " and he so awed the mob by his bearing that he 
passed tlurough them unharmed. 

The consul Marius, once the idol of Rome, when in the 
fall of his fortunes, an exile and outlaw, he was dragged 
with a rope around his neck to be beheaded, saved his life 



THE MOB AT NAZARETH. 173 

by fixing his eye upon the executioner, and saying, " Slave ! 
dost thou dare to kill Marius ? " The soldier who had just 
volunteered to kill him thi'ew down his sword, and fled ; and 
Marius lived to be again loaded with honors by his country- 
men. 

Napoleon, on landing in France from Elba, disarmed the 
troops sent to oppose him, by simply showing himself as 
their old emperor. 

It need cause no surprise, that the story of that fierce mob 
at Nazareth ends with the simple statement that " Jesus, 
passing through tlie midst of them, went his way." The 
majesty that shone in his countenance, so full of innocence, 
of truth, and of grace, the light that could flash from his eye 
such rebukes of passion and wrong, tamed the fury of his 
enemies so that they opened a way for him, and let him pass 
unharmed. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



HIS LIFE AT CAPERNAUM. 



The mob at Nazareth was a turning-point in the life of 
Jesus. His heart was set upon doing good to ever}*body, 
and first of all to liis countr}^raeu. He had a strange power 
over nature, over diseases, over devils ; and this power he 
was ready to use for healing and blessing his fellow-men, but 
never for showing off wonders to make a name or party for 
himself. He had a knowledge of truth and of God, so deep, 
so full, so pure, that its light would banish error and sin, 
and would show the way of life ; and this knowledge he was 
ready to give to every man who was willing to believe and 
obey the truth. But he would not set himself up as a 
prophet for the vanity of any sect or place or people. Now, 
his works at Jerusalem had roused the jealousy of the rulers 
and the Pharisees ; and his words at Nazareth had roused the 
fury of the mob. His first attempts at doing good by heal- 
ing and by teaching had brought his own life in danger : he 
had been warned from the capital, he had been driven from 
his home. " He came unto his own, and his own received 

174 



I 



HIS LIFE AT CAPERNAUM. 175 

him not."^ Where, then, should he go to preach his gospel? 
Where should he do his works of mercy ? There were 
three or four disciples who already loved him better than his 
own brothers ; and the most natural thought was, to go to 
the home of these friends, who, poor as they were, were 
ready to give him all they had in the world. Probably on 
quitting Samaria, after they had crossed the great plain of 
Esdraelon, and had come as far as Cana together, where 
Jesus turned aside to the home of his parents, Peter, 
Andrew, Philip, and Nathanael kept on a day's journey 
farther to Bethsaida, where they lived, to look after their 
fishing. The nobleman whose son he had just healed lived 
within a mile or two of Bethsaida ; and, as he could count 
upon him also as a friend, he went directly to Capernaum, 
and, as it proved, made this for more than two years his 
home, where he gathered his disciples, dehvered many of 
his parables and discourses, and performed many of his 
mighty works. 

A walk of a few hours north-east from Nazareth would 
bring Jesus to the shore of Gennesareth, the loveliest lake 
of Palestine, which lies in a deep basin among the hills, and 
is thirteen miles long by six miles in breadth at its widest 
part. As compared with the English lakes, with the lakes 
of Ziirich, Luzerne, Geneva, or Wallenstadt, in Switzerland, 
or with Lake George, Winnipisiogee, or Moosehead, in the 

1 John i. 11. 



176 JESUS OF NAZAKETH. 

United States, Gennesareth as it now appears would not be 
striking either for grandeur or for beauty. The hills on the 
eastern side, and also on the lower half of the western, are 
steep and rough, forming a rocky wall from eight hundred 
to one thousand feet high, with a strip of beach between this 
and the water ; but toward the upper end of the lake, on 
the western side, the hills are more gentle and sloping, and 
set back farther from the water, leaving a margin of beau- 
tiful and fertile plains, one of which is three miles long by 
more than a mile in breadth, and once had the same name 
with the lake. Nowadays this plain of Gennesareth is 
covered with the ruins of a row of towns that then lined the 
shore so closely as to form almost one continuous settlement, 
and which stretched on even to the head of the lake where 
the Jordan enters it. The few poor natives who yet live 
upon the plain do little to keep up its old fertility ; but the 
splendid crops of grain from the little patches that are cul- 
tivated, the luxuriant grass and flowers, and even the very 
weeds, show how rich the soil is by nature, and how favor- 
able the climate ; so that we can almost share the ecstasy of 
Josephus, who looked upon it as a second Garden of Eden. 
Here is his picture of this fairy plain. " Extending along 
the Lake of Gennesareth, and bearing also its name, lies a 
tract of country admirable both for its natural properties and 
its beauty. Such is the fertility of the soil, that it rejects no 
plant ; and accordingly all are here cultivated by the hus- 



HIS LIFE AT CAPERNAUM. 177 

bandman. For so genial is the air that it suits every variety. 
The walnut, which delights beyond other trees in a wintry 
climate, grows luxuriantly where also is the palm-tree, 
which is nourished by heat ; and near to these are figs and 
olives, ro which a milder atmosphere has been assigned. 
One might style this an ambitious effort of Nature, doing 
violence to herself in bringing together plants of discordant 
habits ; and an amiable rivalry of the seasons, each, as it 
were, asserting her right to the soil : for it not only possesses 
the extraordinary virtue of nourishing fruits of opposite 
climes, but also maintains a continual supply of them. 
Thus it produces those most royal of all, the grape and 
the fig, during ten months without intermission, while the 
other varieties ripen the whole year through ; for, besides 
being favored by the genial temperature of the air, it is 
irrigated by a highly fertilizing spring called Capernaum by 
the people of the country:" ^ 

This mixture of climates and of seasons is owing to the 
fact that the lake lies in a gorge nearly six hundred feet 
below the level of the Mediterranean ; and at times the rays 
of the sun make it like a boiling caldron, while at other 
times it is fanned by cool breezes from the snows of Mount 
Lebanon. Besides, this was once a region of volcanoes. 
The soil is a dark loam from rocks of basalt ; and toward 
the southern end of the lake, on the west side, there are hot 

1 Josephus: The Jewish War, iii. 8. 



178 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

springs, which smell strongly of sulphur. Like all volcanic 
soils, this is naturally fertile ; and along the shore are 
springs that seem never to fail, and that make the land rich 
with a tropical verdure. Indigo, melons, grapes, wheat, 
millet, grow in the fields ; the lote, or nettle-tree, springs up 
among the rocks; and palm-trees spread their leafy fans 
above the garden-walls. The natural beauty of the lake 
was what Josephus described it, in the time of Christ ; and 
its borders were then lined with a busy population, made up 
of all classes and all nations. Near the hot springs the large 
and showy city of Tiberias had lately been built ; and at the 
head of the lake the city of Julias, on the eastern side of 
the Jordan. These were places of fashionable resort much 
frequented by Jews, and by foreigners of wealth and rank. 
So long as Tiberias was the capital of Galilee, a large mixed 
population crowded its walls, and the villas of noblemen 
adorned its suburbs. And, in fact, the western shore of 
Gennesareth was just then the most thickly-settled part 
of Palestine, and had even a greater variety of people than 
Jerusalem itself ; and Capernaum was its business centre. 

Here were fishermen and sailors along the coast, traders 
and artisans of all sorts in the towns, farmers and peasants 
in the country round about. Here were merchants from 
foreign nations passing to and fro : the Arabian Gentiles 
from cast of the Jordan, and the Phoenician Gentiles 
from the Mediterranean coast, mixing with the Jewish 



HIS LITE AT CAPERNAUM. 179 



traffickers and money-changers. Here were Roman soldiers, 
tax-gatherers, officers, and noblemen. Every grade and 
mixture of society was to he found at Capernaum. It 
was a place in which to preach the gospel to all peoples ; 
and the door was already open. Here was a synagogue ; 
but scribes and Pharisees were few, and in such an easy- 
going community they had much less influence than at 
Jerusalem. Here, as everywhere, the Jews were looking 
for their Messiah ; but as they were not mixed up with the 
political and religious parties and strifes of Jerusalem, and 
were more free and open in their opinions and ways, they 
cared less about the Messiah as a king, and were more ready 
to listen to the spiritual teaching of Jesus. Instead of seek- 
ing, by the lake-side, a place of seclusion where he could 
be safe from persecution, Jesus went to Capernaum as a 
busy hive of men and affairs, where he could preach to all 
classes, each in its own way, — to the farmer, of the seed 
and the tares, of the flowei-s and grass of the field, and 
the birds of the air ; to the fisherman, of his net cast into 
the sea ; to the centurion, of his servants ; to the merchant, 
of his goodly pearls. Here he could always find hearers, 
and, while busy in the work of teaching, could easily pro- 
vide the little he required for his own support. Thus the 
district of Gennesareth, with its five or six villages, and 
its neighboring lake and hills, became the seat of that 
kingdom which Jerusalem and Nazareth had rejected. And 



180 JESU8 OF NAZABETH. 



SO an old saying of the prophet was fulfilled, " The land of 
Zabulon and the land of Nephthaliui, by the w^y of the 
sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people 
which sat in darkness saw great light ; and to them which 
sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up.*' * 

Thus far we have traced the life of Jesus step by step, 
from one point to another, in the natural order of events and 
changes. This was necessary in order to get clearly before 
us the facts of his history, as these bring out his character 
and work. But from his settlement at Capernaum, which 
was called " his own city," it is not so much the places and 
circumstances of his life, that will interest us, as the life 
itself, — his teachings, his works, his followers, his enemies, 
his sufferings, and his death. 

Jesus had no relatives in Capernaum, and no house that 
he could call his own. But he soon made friends ; and so 
long as he remained in the city he never wanted for a home. 
The Jew^ were taught to look up with respect to a teacher 
of religion ; and, such was their reverence for the office of 
a prophet, that they would gladly do any ser\'ice for one 
whom they supposed to be really sent from God. They 
were accustomed by gifts of money, food, &c., to support 
the scribes as teachers of the law ; and pupils, or disciples, 
expected to provide for the personal wants of their masters ; 
though some of the greatest rabbis among the Jews sup- 

1 Isa. Ls. 2. 



I 



HIS LIFE AT CAPERNAUM. 181 



poi-ted themselves by a trade, just as Paul, while preaching 
at Corinth, earned his living by working at his trade of tent- 
making. As Jesus was now recognized as a public teacher, 
and wiis even looked up to by some as a prophet, there were 
many in Capernaum who would open their houses or their 
purses to supply his necessities ; some, out of gratitude for 
a favor done to a member of the fiimily or to a friend, by 
the healing power of Jesus ; others, for the honor of receiv- 
ing such a guest; and othei-s, like the plain, honest fishermen 
who were the fii*st to believe on liim, for the love they had 
for him, and the blessing they found in his society and in his 
teachings. It was not long before he brought to Capernaum 
the fame tliat liis townsmen of Nazareth had wished for 
tliemselves, but had lost by being too eager and too worldly 
in their wishes. 

The people of Capernaum were not slow to profit by 
the wonderful stranger who had come to make his home 
among them. Whenever Jesus appeared in public, a crowd 
followed him to hear what he would say, and see what he 
would do. If he went out to walk along the shore of the 
lake, the people ran after him, and pressed upon him in such 
numbers that he was often obliged to take refuge in a boat, 
and to use this as a stand for preaching.^ It was in this 
way that he delivered the parables of the sower, the tares, 
the grain of mustard-seed, the leaven hidden in the meal, 

1 Luke V. 1-4. 



182 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

the seed cast into tlie ground, and many other discourses 
that are not reported even in outline.* Sometimes, to 
escape the crowd, and gain a little rest for himself, or an 
opportunity to talk privately witli his disciples, he would 
cross the lake from Capernaum to the tliinly-scttled countrj 
on the other side ; and it was in such excursions that he 
performed the mimcles of stilling the tempest, and of walk- 
ing upon the sea.^ But the people would not suffer him to 
be alone ; and, if they saw him go away in a boat, they 
would quickly get together all the fitihing-boata of the town, 
and sail after him, or would run along the shore on foot to 
meet him Avherever he might land. Once, when he had 
been hurried and driven by so many coming and going that 
he had no time even to eat, he tried to get away with his 
disciples to a desert place, to rest a while. He took a boat 
privately, and sailed over to the north-eastern comer of the 
lake, on the other side of the River Jordan. But he was 
observed by some of the villagers, who spread the news; 
and such crowds ran after him from all the towns along the 
shore, that over five thousand were soon gathered to beg him 
to preach to them, and to heal the sick.' These were people 
who were just ready to start in a caravan for the Passover at 
Jerusalem ; and so they could easily be set in motion by the 
chance of seeing and hearing the great prophet : and Jesus, 

1 Matt. xiii. 1-37; Mark iv. l-U. « M..u. ..... ...... ^. -^^ ^^ 

» Maik vi. 32-5& 




The Woman who T>noHKi> Hit* r- »>xhvt 



HIS LIFE AT CAPERNAUM. 183 



weary and hungry as he was, gave hours to teaching and 
healing them, and then provided bread to feed them before 
sending them away. 

During all his residence at Capernaum, he was accustomed 
to teach on the sabbath in the synagogue ; and there he gave 
his wonderful discourse upon the true bread, and eating his 
flesh and drinking his blood.^ And it was at Capernaum 
and in the neighborhood, that he performed the greater part 
of the miracles which are recorded in the Gospel history. 
Here he cured the blind and the dumb,^ those who had 
palsy,3 and those who were lunatics, or were possessed of 
devils.* He cured Peter's wife's mother of a fever,^ and 
a woman that for twelve years had an issue of blood, that 
no doctor could remedy ; ^ he healed great numbers who 
were sick of all sorts of diseases ; " and he brought back the 
daughter of J aims to life.^ The report of these miracles 
spread so far that a great multitude came to him from 
Galilee, and from Judea down as far as Jerusalem. And not 
only did those of his own nation, who were always looking 
for a ^Messiah, thus rush after this new teacher ; but from 
the east of the Jordan, and from the coast of the 
Mediterranean, came numbers who, though half Pagan in 
their religion, yet had faith and hope enough to seek the 

* John vi. 26. » Mark ix. 27-34. » Matt. viii. 5-13; Mark i. 1-12. 

* Mark i. 21-34. ^ Mark i. 31. « Mark v. 25. "^ Luke iv. 40. 
8 Mark v. 38-43. 



184 JE8U8 OP NAZARETH. 



great prophet of Israel.* And, besides these miracles of 
mercy for the direct benefit of the afflicted, he also per- 
formed here wonders upon nature, that manifested to his 
disciples his power and majesty, and confirmed their faith 
in him as the Son of God ; as, when he caused the fish to fill 
their nets,^ and again caused a fish to bring up in its mouth 
money to pay their taxes,' and, above all, when he walked 
to them upon the raging sea.* 

But in this busy, hurried life, crowded and driven by the 
cares and the wants of thousands from near and far, Jesus 
still found time for that pleasant social intercourse in which 
he delighted to sliow the friendliness of his own nature, and 
the genial spirit of his religion. Thus one day we find him 
at dinner in the house of Simon the Pharisee;* and, another, 
at a great feast given in his honor by Levi the publican;* 
and again we read of his going from house to house as a 
welcome guest. 

From time to time, he made excursions from Capernaum 
to neighboring towns and villages, preaching and healing as 
he went. Three times he made a wide circuit through 
Galilee, once crossing the border into the region of Tyre 
and Sidon ; and again he made an extensive tour on the 
eastern side of the Jordan, and far up to the north. 

When the weather would permit of his living and sleep- 

1 Mark iii. 7-12. « Luke v. 1-7. » Matt. xrii. 24-37. 

* Matt. xiv. 24-33. » Luke vii. 3C « Luke r. 2»-32. 




Hk kats with Ptblicans and Sinn'kka. 



HIS LIFE AT CAPERNAUM. 185 

ing in the open air, he loved to slip away into the country 
back of Capernaum, and in the solitude of the mountains 
to rest, to meditate, and to pray. It was on his return from 
one of his journeys in Galilee, which he always made on 
foot, and while he had gone apart into a mountain with only 
his twelve disciples, that the people, finding out where he 
was, crowded about him in immense multitudes, and he 
preached to them the Sermon on the Mount.^ 

In Capernaum he selected the persons who should be 
the special preachers of his gospel, — the twelve who were 
with him as a family ,2 and whom he made his apostles, and 
the seventy whom he sent two and two to prepare the way 
in every city and place which he intended to visit in person.^ 
And thus it came to pass, that neither Bethlehem, the place 
where the Son of David was born ; nor Nazareth, where he 
was brought up as the carpenter's son ; nor Jerusalem, where 
he was put to death because he made himself the '' Son of 
God," and *• the King of the Jews; " but a small fishing and 
trading town near the head of Lake Tiberias, busy enough 
with its own affairs, and full of the stir of a mixed and 
changing population, yet quite remote from the political 
excitements and the religious strifes of the capital, — this 
thriving, bustling, worldly seaport Capernaum was " exalted 
to heaven " as the earthly centre of the kingdom of God, 
the place where Jesus spent most of his active life, did most 
1 Luke vi. 12-49 « j^jatt. x. 1-42. ^ Luke x. 1-16. 



186 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

of his mighty works, and uttered those discourses which, 
more than any others, define his rules of life here, and the 
way to life hereafter ; ^ the place where he announced himself 
as the Saviour of tlie world, and appointed his messengers 
to go fortli in his name, proclaiming the kingdom of 
heaven. What an earnest, active life was this of Jesus in 
his two yeai-s at Capernaum ! How much was compressed 
into it, of communion with his Father througli the beauties 
and glories of the natural world, and by special meditation 
and prayer ; how much of thought and of wisdom in 
instruction to the people ; how much of counsel and of 
patience in training and guiding his disciples ! And how 
much went out fiom that life ! — how much of symj>athy for 
the suffering and the sorrowing ; how much of benevolence 
for I ho poor, the sick, tlie infirm ; how much of kindliness 
for neighbor, for strangers, and for children ; how much 
of light for the ignorant and the erring; how much of 
truth for the inquiring and the believing; how much of love 
for all sorts and conditions of men ; how much of mercy 
and of hope for a sinful world ; how much of power, of 
glory, and of majesty for the Church that was to be ! 

But pride, bigotry, jealousy, could not let him alone. His 
influence with the people stirred the envy of their religious 
rulers; his plain dealing with formalism and h>*pocrisy 
roused their rage. The leaders at Jerusalem, who claimed 

^ The Sermon ou the Mount, and the diacourse oa the bread of life. 







I WILL MAKE YOU FiSHERS OF MEN. 



HIS LIFE AT CAPERNAUM. 187 



a supervision over all schools and synagogues, sent spies to 
watch Jesus at Capernaum, and to report his sayings and 
doings. When he healed a man who was sick of the palsy, 
and at the same time forgave his sins, the scribes and Phari- 
sees charged him with blasphemy, a sin which by Jewish 
law was to be punished with death. When he cast out 
devils, while the common people marvelled, and said, " It 
was never so seen in Israel," the Pharisees mocked, and 
called this only a trick of the Devil himself.^ They tried to 
raise a quarrel with him about the traditions of the elders,^ 
and in other ways to get some pretext for bringing him to 
trial. And, what to his tender and loving spirit was far 
keener than the hatred of the Pharisees, the common people, 
who ran after him to see his miracles, and who at first 
listened with wonder to his teaching, by degrees fell away 
when they found how strict and searching were his 
doctrines, how deep and spiritual his demands upon the 
lives of liis followers. The attempt to put his religion into 
practice as a religion of self-sacrifice showed how many had 
followed him *' to eat of the loaves," to get some present 
good for themselves or their friends ; and so when he saw 
that few were led by his preaching to repent, and lead holy 
lives, he said with bitter sorrow, '' Thou, Capernaum, which 
art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell; 
for, if the mighty works which have been done in thee had 
1 Matt. ix. 3i. - Mark vii. 1-23. 



188 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day." 
And to-day the traveller stumbles upon a few heaps of 
stones and rubbish lying here and there along the western 
shore of Gennesareth, but, after all his searching, is left in 
doubt where Capernaum was.* Capernaum lives only in 
remembrance as the city where Jesus dwelt-; but there was 
no need of human monuments to keep him in remembrance 
at that spot. He took possession of the gem of Palestine, 
and wrought this into his life, and msuXe it immortal. The 
deep, clear blue of the lake still reflects the deep blue of 
the sky, like a mirror of the truth that he brought from 
heaven ; the air rises from its bosom soft and genial with 
the peace that he breathed over it, or comes from the neigh- 
boring hills fresh and healing with his benedictions of 
mercy ; the flowers along the shore are brilliant with the 
beauty with which he clothed them, and fragrant with his 
grace ; the very murmuring of the waters upon the pebbly 
beach is musical with his words of love. The races and the 
places among which he lived have passed away ; the fields 
and the shores are forsaken and desolate ; trade, fishing, 
husbandry, synagogue, and citadel, all the industries and 
occupations of life, the traces of war, and even the tokenlft 
of history, have vanished. But Nature remains true to her 
sacred tinist, holds this the most dear and hallowed spot 

^ It is still iu dispute whether Khaa Minjeh or Tell Hum. See 

Robiusou, Stanley, Thomsou. 



HIS LIFE AT CAPEENAUM. 189 

of earth, — the scene of a divine love, lowly and self- 
sacrificing, but as yet unstained by sorrow ; and by every 
voice of sea and air, of hill and sky, she utters the 
name of Jesus. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE SERMON ON THE MOrNT. 



Always ready to preach when any w» re ready to hear, 
Jesus would preach just where lie hapin-ued to find the 
people ; whether this was in the porch of the temple at 
Jerusalem, on the highway by Jericho, in the synagogue 
when one was at hand and open, on the shore of the lake as 
he was walking, or on the side of a hill where he had gone 
to seek a little repose. He had no college to which pupils 
must come to learn his doctrines, no church to which 
men must go to hear his discourses ; but, as often as any- 
where, he preached in some chance spot and in the open air, 
just because he had the people around him, and was moved 
to do them good. It was in this simple, natural way that 
he gave that wonderful sermon which no philosophy nor 
eloquence has ever approached, and which, till the end of 
time, shall serve as the text of the highest wisdom, virtue, 
and piety for human life. The hills furnished his pulpit ; 
the biixls, the grass, the lilies, the fields, the trees, the rocks, 
the thorns, the thistles, gave his illustrations. 

190 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 191 



A little south of the plain of Gennesareth, there is a 
break in the hills that run around the border of the lake ; 
and another plain sets ofP toward the south-west, at an 
angle of which, about four miles distant, is a ridge some 
forty feet high, ending in a broad platform with two knobs, 
or horns, like the bow of a saddle. As approached from the 
east, the highest of these horns is hardly seventy feet above 
the table-land ; but from the northern side it looks high 
enough to be called a mountain ; so that this would give all 
the features of the story of the " Sermon on the Mount." 

On a mild, quiet evening, Jesus, wishing to be alone for 
meditation, stole out of the city, and walked to this hill, and 
there spent the whole night alone in prayer. ^ But his 
disciples found out where he had gone ; and early the next 
morning they, and crowds of people after them, hurried out 
to meet him. Seeing this eager multitude, Jesus first called 
twelve of his disciples by name to come up to the point of 
the hill where he was ; and there he set them apart to be his 
apostles, and gave them power to heal the sick, and to cast 
out devils.^ Then, coming down with them from the horn 
of the hill, he stood on the broad, level summit, where the 
people pressed upon him with the sick of all sorts, whom 
they had brought with them to be healed. These he cured 
either by his word or by his touch. After this he began to 
teach. But the crowd was too great for comfort ; and he 
1 Luke vi. 12-19. '^ Mark iii. 13-15. 



192 JESUS OF NAZABETH. 

stepped back a little up the hillside, and took a seat where 
everybody could see and hear. 

Now all was still. Not a breath stirred the lake ; not a 
sound broke the air. The hum of the city was too distant 
to be heard ; and, indeed, the city had almost emptied itself 
into the fields. The fishermen had left tkeir nets on the 
shore ; the fiirmers had quit their work in the plain ; even 
the birds had ceased their morning song, and were quietly 
nestling in groves, or picking up their food in the com. As 
Jesus looked over the plain below, the sun was kindling the 
bright colors of tlie lily and the oleander against the gray 
shadows of the olive and the deep green of the fig, and 
weaving a thin mist of purple over the blue of the sea. 
Away to the north the snowy top of Hermon was glittering 
with the glory of the morning ; and, like the white walls 
and towei-s of Safed to-day, the **city set upon a hill " was 
shining fi'ora afar. 

The first word that broke this silence seemed an echo of 
the peace and the beauty of nature, a benediction from 
heaven upon the scene, — Blessed ! Bles$ed.' Blessed! seven 
times repeated, as if the strain of the angels at the birth 
of Jesus, " Peace on earth, good-will to men,'* were now 
brought out with the full octave, covering the whole scale 
of men's conditions, wants, desu-es, hopes, capacities, from 
the depth of poverty, of hunger, of sorrow, and of sin, up 
through comfort, possession, fulness, peace, to the height of 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 193 

blessedness in seeing God as his children. Blessed, seven 
times blessed I for all these blessings shall come to the same 
gentle, loving, trusting soul, shall come to each and every 
soul that lives in Me. A king at his coronation gives tokens 
of his favor — offices, honors, titles — to a few selected 
friends or favorites, to princes, generals, ministers ; while it is 
enough for the common people, that they can have a holidaj^ 
and see the show. But here was an inauguration-day, when 
blessings were thrown about as freely as the air, as richly 
as the sunlight. The kingdom of heaven was openly set up, 
and was offered to the poor, the mourning, the meek, to the 
hungry, the merciful, the pure, the peaceable, to every 
man who had the true feeling and desire for it, then and 
there to take it. And not then and there only, but now 
and always and everywhere is this blessing offered to who- 
ever is in the right mind for receiving it : " Peace on earth 
to men of good-will," — the kingdom of heaven to the poor 
in spirit, the vision of God to the pure in heart. The secret 
of this is, that Jesus here taught men how to make themselves 
blessed, simply by being and by doing that which they ought 
to be and to do, — being that which every man can become, 
doing that which every man can perform. 

But, though this secret is so simple, it seems to most men 
so strange, that it is seldom tried ; for the conditions and the 
feelings which Jesus pronounced " blessed " are those that 
are commonly looked upon as evil and wretched, and that 



194 JE8U8 OP NAZABETH. 

people would shun, or escape from, if poesible. Who nowa- 
days tliinkij of praising poverty as a blessing, or wishes to 
be poor for the sake of being hapjiy ? There are those who 
seem contented in the midst of ix)verty, cheerful and happy 
though they are poor; but Jesus speaks of those who are 
blessed in being poor, the ver>' spring of whose blessedness 
is in the fact that they are ^loor. "Poverty is quarrel- 
some,'* says a French proverb; and, in these times^ the poor 
are everywhere showing signs of discontent. They are 
dissatisfied with their wages, dissatisfied witli their homes, 
dissatisfied with their lot in life, and too often angrily or 
sulkily dissatisticd with Providence. Some are poor and 
envious, others poor and proud ; and, instead of making the 
best of their condition, these really make themselves worse 
than their condition by their restlessness and discontent. 
Others are poor and troubled, making their poverty a 
greater care and burden by needless anxieties and fears ; 
and some, again, are shiftless and dispirited, always in poor 
spirits, but not poor in spirit, as Jesus meant when he said, 
** Blessed are the poor.'* 

The poverty of which he spoke may be felt by the rich 
and the great, and must be felt by them if they would be 
really blessed. The greatest king must have this feeling of 
poverty, or ho cannot have the kingdom of heaven. But 
when one feels that not wealth, nor jx)wer, nor knowledge, 
nor ofiice, nor friends can make his soul truly rich, but. 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 195 



whatever he possesses in the world without, he must have 
witliin himself right thoughts and right feelings, and above 
all must have the love of God, then, just because he is so 
poor in spirit, he is ready to be made rich indeed. He 
gives up looking to outward tilings for real good, gives up 
his inward pride, vanity, and self-will ; feels that he needs 
God to teach him, prays that God would teach him ; feels 
that God must guide him, and wishes to have God rule him. 
And so the kingdom of heaven — which is the love of God 
dwelling in the heart, and thence the will of God ruling in 
the mind and in the life — becomes the possession of the 
spirit that just now felt itself to be poor and empty, and 
in want of all things. " Blessed are tlie poor." 

Men do not hunt after trouble and sorrow as blessings ; 
young people never wish to mourn, nor to mix with mourn- 
ers, if they can help it ; and though afflictions are said to be 
"angels in disguise," and to turn out blessings in the end, 
we would rather see the angels at the first, and have the 
good without the evil. Come what may of it afterwards, 
sorrow is sorrow, and trouble is trouble; and neither is to 
be wished for in itself. There is no good in grief, simi^ly as 
grief; and when one mourns over his trials and losses, over 
the loss of property, the loss of friends, the loss of office or 
of home, as if these were his all, there is no blessing in 
his mourning, and no good can come of it. Such grief may 
wear itself out, but it takes no comfort. Men are right in 



196 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

wishing to get rid of sorrow. Everybody was rushing to 
Jesus to be cured of diseases, to be rid of pains and cares 
and troubles. He took pity upon every sufferer, liad a kind 
word and a deed of mercy for every one ; but, just when all 
were rejoicing in being free from the sorrows they had 
brought with them, he said, '* Blessed are they that 
mourn ! " Yes ; but this mourning, like the poverty he 
had spoken of, must be spiritual, — the sorrow of the heart 
for sin and evil, the sigliing of the heart after God. One 
may have no outward cause of sorrow, and give no outward 
signs of grief ; may have no losses, pains, disappointments, 
troubles ; the course of liis life may run smoothly and 
pleasantly enough: yet if in his heart he has had sinful 
thoughts and wishes, if he has lived selfishly, with no true 
love for God or men, then all tlie favors of his outward life 
but make him the more pitiable, because of this ungrateful 
and uidovely spirit. But when such a one comes to see 
what his life has been, sees how like a prodigal he has lived, 
and, filled with shame and compunction, comes sorro^^-ing to 
his Father, to confess his sin, then shall he be blessed 
indeed, — blessed not only with the forgiveness of his sins, 
but with the love and joy of his Father. And when once 
his heart has found this peace in God, no matter what trials 
and troubles come from without, he shall alwa\-s be com- 
forted. *' Blessed are they that mourn.*' 

It goes against the grain of most men, to bear a wrong 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 197 



without resenting it, to be quiet under insult, patient under 
injustice or injury. Boys early learn to give angry words 
and blows, and think it manly to fight ; and even girls are 
ready to answer back with spirit when they feel offended. 
Almost everybody looks upon meekness as only 'another 
name for weakness. Well, it is mean to be cowardly, never 
to stand up for honor, for truth, for right, for justice, never 
to speak up against a wrong, never to resist an evil person or 
an evil act. Jesus himself showed spirit when with a 
whip he drove out the traders from the temple ; when 
with anger he rebuked the Pharisees in the synagogue ; 
when before the mob, before the soldiers, before Pilate, 
he gave his reproofs and warnings, not fearing for his 
life. Yet Jesus said, " Blessed are the meek, for they 
shall inherit the earth." Meekness, not malice nor might, 
is the true source of power against enemies, the true way 
to a lasting dominion over men. And what is this feeling, 
this habit, this disposition, so opposite to the common feel- 
ing and conduct of men, which Jesus so praised and 
blessed ? Not a mere quiet, silent manner ; for this may 
come of pride or of stupidity, or may hide malice or revenge. 
Not timidity, nor chicken-heartedness in running from 
danger, or in avoiding or bearing provocation ; for this 
may come only from the nerves, or may show a lack of 
true principle, and regard for any thing. It is not simply a 
soft address; for this may show only a simpleton. And 



198 JESUS OF NAZAKETH. 

certainly it is not a condescending way toward other people ; 
for that is a sign of pride. True meekness is the gentleness 
of spirit and of manners that grows out of the habit of 
governing all one's feelings and actions toward others by the 
law of love. It comes from a word that means to bend, to 
make soft, or pliable ; and when we soften our self-will, and 
bend this to the will of God, when we cease to make our- 
selves of the first imiwrtance in every thing, and to measure 
everybody and every thing by what they may be worth to 
us, or may do for us, then we shall not be likely to feel envy, 
jealousy, revenge, nor any sort of evil and unruly passion. 
We may hate wrong, and yet pity the wrong-<loer ; we may 
oppose and rebuke injustice, and yet be patient under 
injuries done to ourselves. They who have this spirit, said 
Jesus, *' shall inherit the earth." Having learned to rule 
their ovm feelings, nothing can disturb them so as to make 
them really unhappy. Proud, vain, envious, quarrelsome 
people are never happy : they are always afraid lest some- 
body will not notice them, or will tread on their toes, or 
shove them aside. But the meek, instead of pushing them- 
selves forward, wait patiently for their turn ; and, in the 
mean time, are at ease in their own minds, trusting in God 
to do what is best for them. And, by conquering them- 
selves, tliey conquer the world also ; their meekness disarms 
their enemies, or wears them out Proud and passionate 
people are always getting into quarrels ; angry words pro- 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 199 

voke angi-y feelings in reply. But the men who are slow to 
speak, and slow to wrath, who neither use threats, nor fear 
them, who stand quietly and firmly for the right, but do no 
wrong; the men who are patient and long-suffering and 
kind, who show that they care more for truth and right than 
for their own ease and safety, and that they know how to 
love even their enemies, — these men at the last get the 
victory in the world for their principles and ideas. So it 
has come to pass, that the martyrs of Christianity and of 
liberty inherit the earth through the power of their teach- 
ing and example, while their persecutors are forgotten or 
unknown. It is not Nero, but Paul ; not Csesar, but Jesus, 
— who live in the thoughts and the hearts of mankind. 
" Blessed are the meek." 

It is well to be hungry when a good meal is spread 
before one, and to be thirsty when there is a fresh, cool 
spring at hand. But to be himgry, and have no bread, to 
be thirsty, and have not a drop of water, is one of the worst 
forms of pining and of torture. There is no stronger 
appeal to sympathy than the story that one is perishing of 
hunger or thirst. How harrowing is the fate of persons lost 
in the desert, or shipwrecked and left without provision in 
the middle of the ocean, in an open boat ! But Jesus said, 
"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst," — that have 
within their souls a desire as longing, as burning, as con- 
suming, as are the sensations of hunger and thirst to the 
body. 



200 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

Yet the soul may torture iteelf with hungering and 
thirsting for nought. How many hunger and thirst for 
gold, for fame, for power, who never gain their desire, but 
all their lives long carry this fever in their veins I How 
often, too, the getting of wealth, of office, of honor, inflamee 
the passion so mucli the more, and makes the fire bum and 
rage till it cuts up all that is good and noble in the man ! 
But tliis for which Jesus tells us to hunger and thirst is sure 
to come at last through the very strength and fever of the 
desire, and sure to fill and satisfy the soul. The earnest 
longing to know the right, to be right, to do right, — this 
God will answer with the fulness of his own truth and 
love. And, when the principle of living right has been 
formed within the soul, then by its own nature it grows and 
increases more and more, and fills the whole being with 
light, with truth, with goodness, and with joy. ** Blessed 
are they that hunger and thirst," 

From inward feelings Jesus passed to outward acts, when, 
in the fifth benediction, he said, ** Blessed are the merciful.'* 
And here he did not run so contrary to the common 
thoughts and feelings of men as he had seemed to do when 
he spoke of the poor, the moiu-ning, the meek, the hungr}-, 
as blessed ; since every one feels that it is gootl to l>e kind, 
and is ready to praise kindness in others, though he may 
practise it but little himself. And almost every one has 
known times when he was glad to receive kindness, perhaps 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 201 

to seek for mercy. But, in order to get the blessing of 
which Jesus speaks, we must form the habit of being 
merciful, and must practise kindness in daily life, toward 
all whom w^e can benefit by a kind word or a good action. 
Some have by nature more tenderness, more sympathy, more 
generosity, than others : they are easily moved to pity, or 
they give by impulse. Yet tears that flow so easily, and 
money that is so freely given, do not always prove a really 
kind heart ; for pei*sons of this sort may give money to 
get rid of misery that annoys them, or in answer to a strong 
appeal, when they would never go to seek the suffering, 
and when perhaps, in another mood, they would turn away 
a needy person without looking into his case. But a truly 
kind heart will seek to do good from the spirit of love to 
God and to men ; will have kind feelings, kind words, kind 
looks, even where there is nothing that it can do for others. 
It will never be harsh to a debtor, nor cruel to an enemy ; 
it will have pity for the criminal, and will succor the poor ; 
and its kindness will not be measured by the nation, the 
color, the religion, the condition, of the sufferer, but will 
flow out to all who are in need of sympathy and help : and 
this because the heart itself delights in kindness. Such a 
one is like Jesus, who "went about doing good;" and to 
such he said, " Blessed are the merciful." The feeling itself 
is blessed ; and thus every act of kindness brings its own 
reward. Indeed, it is one of the best remedies for sorrows 



202 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



and troubles of our own, to try to help others in trouble. 
And this feeling keeps our hearts in sympathy with our 
Father in heaven, who doeth good to all. It is a npirit that 
he delights in, and will reward with his blessing here, and 
with the joy of heaven. 

But those who win these blessings of Jesus — the 
humble, the penitent, the meek, the righteous, the merciful 
— need not wait for the future world to find their heaven. 
By such inward piety and such outward charity, Jesus 
taught men to make and keep their heaven within their own 
souls. ** Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see 
God." To see God is the perfect bliss of heaven : it is to 
be where his presence is made real, is felt, is shared ; where 
his glory is the light of the soul, and his goodness is its joy. 
It is to see our Father, and to partake of the blessedness 
of his being and his love : " they shall see his face." But 
as one can see the sun in a clear lake, and enjoy his beauty 
and glory, and thus see heaven spread out beneath him, 
when the eyes could not bear to gaze upon the sun in the 
sky, so if the heart is full of right thouglits and good 
feelings, of pure and holy love, God is reflected in it, and 
the light and love, the glory and the peace, of heaven are 
there. " He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and 
God in him." 

The heart is the seat of all moral feelings. When the 
heart has sorrow for sin, God comes to it with the grace of 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 203 

forgiveness ; when the heart is sore with troubles, God 
comes with the grace of consolation; when the heart is 
meek and patient, God comes to it with the grace of his 
approval ; when the heart is hungering and thirsting for 
righteousness, God comes to it with the grace of his fulness ; 
when the heart is loving and kind toward others, God 
comes to it with his own love and bounty ; and, when the 
heart loves what is pure and holy, then it becomes so like 
God, that he really dwells within it as his home : and so 
the pure in heart see God, know God, have God. Such a 
heart sees God in nature as a living, loving presence ; sees 
God in the Bible as a breathing, speaking spirit ; sees God 
in the events of every day as a kind and faithful Father ; 
sees God hi itself as the nearest, dearest friend, having the 
same desires jvnd the same loves. *' Blessed are the pure." 

Now, when the heart is thus filled with God, when it is 
iUl truth and goodness and love and purity within, then it 
breathes upon all around it the spirit of peace and good- 
will, and so wins the added benediction, " Blessed are the 
peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." 
A son is like his father ; and he whose heart is pure shows 
that he is a child of the pure and holy God. A son has 
free access to his father, and shares his thoughts and feel- 
ings ; and so the heart that delights only in what is true 
and right and good has the freest communion of thought 
and feehne: with God. A son lives in his father's house, 



204 



JESL'S OF NAZARETH. 



under his love and care ; and the heart that is so filled with 
pure and loving thoughts of God finds God's love in every 
thing, and in this sweet thought lives with God as in liis 
own heaven. The son is heir of all that his father owns ; 
and so this heart, made rich with the presence of God, feels 
itself the possessor of all the good and beautiful things that 
God has made. More than a servant, though it is an 
honor to serve such a King; more than a friend, thoogh 
*' Friend " wjis the most tender, confiding name that Jesus 
gave to his disciples : the child of God, — and this in the 
meaning of the full-grown son, who has all the love and 
confidence, all the dignity and privilege, all the possession 
and power, that belong to the son. 

This is the blessing of the ** peacemakers." And who are 
they ? Not the men who merely wish peace for themselves, 
and for the sake of quiet keep out of the way when the 
poor are to be defended, the oppressed delivered, when any 
wrong is to be put down, any evil set aside, any good gained 
by pain and toil and trouble ; not such selfish, easy-natured 
lovers of peace as these; not the compromisers, who, for 
the sake of peace, give up all right, all principle, all duty ; 
not mere go-betweens, who quite as often are mischief- 
makers : but souls that are first pure and undefiled within, 
and being all unselfish in their own thoughts and desires, 
free from envy, jealousy, covetousness, deceit, are peaceful 
towiu'd all men, and seek to make peace between others by 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 205 



doing, by helping, by securing, what is just and true and 
good. " Blessed are the peacemakers." 

And yet the world that does not love God, the world 
that put to death the Son of peace, hates such peace- 
raakei*s, and gives them no rest. The world would be let 
alone in its own ways, would have no opposition to its 
wickedness, no dispute over its opinions, and no strife 
against its injustice and wrongs : such a peace it would 
like well enough. But the men who insist that things 
shall be set right as the only means of peace, the men who 
would carry peace to the injured, the suffering, the 
oppressed, by securing justice in and from the world, — 
these peacemakers the world hates as darkness 'hates light, 
as evil hates good. And so, when Jesus had closed his 
round of benedictions, he reminded his disciples that these 
blessings were spiritual in their nature and effects, — bless- 
ings for the inner life, — and that the ver}' causes that 
would secure inward peace would provoke opposition and 
persecution from without. When about to be borne from 
his disciples, and to suffer upon the cross, he said, " If the 
world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated 
you. The servant is not greater than his lord : if they have 
persecuted me, they will also persecute you." ^ 

The life of a simple, earnest Christian is a rebuke to the 
sins and follies of the world; and, besides, the Christian 

1 John XV. 18, 20. 



206 JBSirS OF KAZARETH. 

seeks directly to reform the lives of others, and to bring 
everybody to his own standard. But sach protest and 
rebuke, if they do not produce reform, provoke ridicule and 
hostility ; and the history of Christianity shows how true 
was this warning of Jesus to his disciples, that in winning 
his blessing they would gain also the hatred of the world. 
But at the same time he taught them that this very hatred 
should be a token and a means of greater blessing. 
** Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness* 
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." To be hated 
and injured because they do right, — this is a sign that they 
are children of God. The wider the world separates from 
them, the hearer they are to the kingdom of heaven. 
*^ Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute 
you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, 
for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad ; for great is 
your rewiu-d in heaven." If by love for Christ, and zeal 
in his cause, we bring upon ourselves the hatred and perse- 
cution of the world, we thus make ourselves one with 
Jesus in what he taught and what he is ; and he will make 
us one with himself in that kingdom of blessedness which 
is his own. 

To take in the whole meaning of these benedictions, we 
must again remind ourselves how the people who first heard 
them were all tiilking about the kingilora of God and the 
kingdom of heaven, and looking to see this set up in their 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 207 



day and in their own Land. But the kingdom they were 
looking for was still an earthly kingdom, — a conquering 
Messiah heading victorious legions, striking terror by his 
name and his deeds, clothed, like Moses and Elijah, with 
the power of God. Their sacred books told them how God 
had drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea, had smitten the 
Assyrians with blindness, had driven out the Philistines 
from the land. And now this Prophet with his wondrous 
powers might surely become their leader and king. The 
nation was ripe for throwing off the Roman yoke. But, 
instead of war and victory, Jesus talked of peace and 
pei*secution ; instead of offices and honors, he talked of 
trials and sorrows ; instead of pride, he talked of puritj'-, 
of blessings within the soul, and of reward in heaven. He 
showed how far they were from the true spirit and life of 
that kingdom, and from the possession of its blessings and 
rewards; that even their religion had become a form, a 
burden, an abuse ; that they had lost the meaning of the 
commandments, and by traditions had set up false and evil 
rules and practices about maniage and divorce, about oaths 
and anger and revenge ; that the people which should have 
been " the salt of the earth," to purify and save the heathen 
world, had so lost the purity and power of its own religion, 
that it had been cast out from among the nations, and was 
now " trodden under foot " by the pagan Romans ; that 
the light of God's word, which should shine like the city 



208 JE8U8 OF NAZARETH. 

that glittered before them on the hillside, was now dim and 
hidden, like ^* a candle under a bushel ; '* and that the true 
way of getting back the light and power they had lost, and 
of setting up the kingdom of heaven, was not by boasting, 
like the Pharisees, of being the children of Abraham, nor 
by rebelling against their Roman master, but by obeying the 
spirit of the law in their hearts and lives ; not by making a 
show of fasting and praying and giving, but by having 
within them right feelings and aims, true love to Grod and 
love to men. This love would be the true life, the true 
religion, the true kingdom of heaven ; and by acting toward 
all men with the spirit of kindness and good-will, and seek- 
ing to make evcr}-body as good and as happy as b possible 
to men in this earthly life, they would be truly the children 
of God, and perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect The 
rule of unselfish love is the blessedness of heaven. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE lord's prayer AND THE GOLDEN RULE. 

How to pray, and how to trust ; how to love, and how to 
give, — these are lessons that ever}'body needs to learn, and 
that make up almost the whole idea of religion and of life 
as taught by Jesus. These lessons, as he taught them, are 
so simple, that it seems as if anybody might have thought 
of them ; and they sound so easy, that it 'seems as if every- 
body might live up to them. Yet, to the people who heard 
him, these were new and strange lessons ; and, though now 
so familiar in word, how hard we find it to carry out the 
rules of Jesus in our lives ! In one sense, his words were 
not new, and need not have seemed strange. The same 
great truths of prapng, trusting, loving, doing, lie open in 
nature and in the Bible. That God is in heaven, — the most 
high and glorious and blessed place that poetry can imagine ; 
that God is holy and just and good ; that God takes care 
of us, and of every living thing ; that God will help us in 
our troubles, will hear us when we pray, will save us by his 
mercy ; that God is to be worshipped as King and Lord 

209 



210 .TESrS OF XAZARETH. 

over all the earth, and yet that he can be spoken to as a 
father, — all this we read in the Old Testament, the Bible 
of the Jews ; and many of these thoughts and feelings we 
find in the sacred lx)ok8 of other nations, and in the writ- 
ings of such wise and good men as Socrates, Plato, Cicero, 
Marcus Aurelius, and others who knew nothing of the teach- 
ings of Christ. That we should be just and kind and forgiv- 
ing, and that it is better to do good than to do evil, was also 
taught by florae of the pagan philosophers ; and Confucius, 
the great Chinese teacher, who lived more than five hundred 
years before Christ, came very near the idea of the Golden 
Rule. He put it into the negative form : ** What I do not 
wish men to do to me, I also wish not to do to men.'* ' The 
famous Jewish teacher Rabbi Hillel, who waa president of 
a chief academy in Jerusalem at the time when Jesus was 
born, had also hit upon this negative form of the same 
precept : " Do not unto another what thou wouldest not 
have another do unto thee. This is the whole law : the 
rest is mere commentary." Hillel said also, " Do not judge 
thy neighbor until thou hast stood in his place." * 

Speaking of dealings between man and man, Plato said, 
"The principle of them is very simple: Thou shalt not 
touch that which is mine, if thou canst help, or remove the 
least thing which belongs to me without my consent ; and 

* *' The Chinese Classics ; *' by James Legge, P P "^^ • •" 79. 
« Deutsch on the TiUmud, p, 31. 



THE LORD S PRAYER, AND THE GOLDEN RULE. 211 

may I, being of sound mind, do to others as I would that 
they should do to me." ^ 

That the wise and good of all lands should approach the 
same moral ideas, is what we ought to expect ; for God is 
one, and truth is one, and nature is one, and the human 
heart is one in itd wants and its fears, in its loves and 
its hopes ; and all true and good things stand together, the 
same in their essence and in their end. But the true and 
good things found in the sacred books of the old pagan 
world, and in the sayings of pagan philosophers, are buried 
and lost in the many things that we now see to be weak 
and foolish and false : religion lost its simple character ; 
prayer was made a form or a display, and alms-giving a 
show ; and wise and good rules of life were contradicted 
by much that was wrong and evil. Now, in the lessons of 
Jesus, all is true, and all is good, with no mixture of weak- 
ness or of mistake ; and the wisest, purest thoughts ever 
spoken, and the best rules ever given, are put together in 
a few simple words ; made clear to everybody, made beauti- 
ful as the birds and the flowers, and sweet and blessed as 
the song of angels. So it does not matter at all, whether 
the things that he said had ever been said before, or not ; 
in the way in which he said them, they were as new and 
fresh as if a voice had then, for the first time, spoken out 
of heaven. As we know from the story of his early life, 

1 The Laws, B. XI., Jowett's translation ; Dialogues, vol. iv. p. 424. 



212 JESIT8 OP yAZ.VRETH. 

and from the evidence of his sayings themselves, he had 
never learned any thing from the philosophers of other 
lands ; he was so far original in the matter of his teaching ; 
and, in the manner of it, " he spake as never man spake;" 
he spoke as one whose soul was identified with truth, who 
was truth itself ; and he spoke truths full of life to the 
souls of all men, in all times. The people who heard him 
were astonished, for "he taught them as one having author- 
ity ; " and we feel in his words the voice of God. 

The prayer which Jesus ta.ught his disciples eighteen 
hundred years ago answers for us to-day, and for every man 
who has any sort of belief in God, whether he is a Jew, a 
Christian, a Mohammedan, or a Pagan. There is not one 
word in it that belongs to any one religious sect, or to any 
one race or country ; but it speaks the wants, the feelings, 
the wishes, the hopes, of all human souls alike ; and in these 
few simple words, that any child can learn, are given all 
the chief things that men need for their earthly and their 
spiritual good. In those davs men of all religions made a 
show of praying in public places, and with long forms ; and 
they wei*e accustomed to say over and over the same words, 
and to cry aloud, as if they thought, for this, God would be 
more likely to hear them ; and so prayer was made either a 
task to be gone over, or a form to be run through with, or 
a performance to please the doer, and make him appear 
pious to his neighbors. But Jesus taught us, that true 



THE LORDS PRAYER, AND THE GOLDEN RULE. 213 



prayer is the soul speaking to God as a child speaks to his 
father ; that prayer is always best when it is simplest ; 
and that when we are alone, by fixing our minds and hearts 
upon God and his goodness, we can bring him near. For 
God is not in the church nor in the temple, not in any 
sacred place where we must go to find him, but is in heaven, 
which is everywhere above the earth ; so that, wherever we 
are, we can feel that he knows us, sees us, hears us, and 
can speak to him as our Father. Now, because God is our 
Fatlier, we should love him and honor him, and should 
hallow his name ; and, if we love God, we shall wish and 
pray that his will may be done in our hearts and lives, and 
by ever}'body in the world ; that so his kingdom may come 
in earth as in heaven. All prayer begins in honoring God. 

But the very feeling that causes us to honor and obey 
him enaljles us to trust him also. As the son of the 
greatest monarch knows that his father, though he has the 
affiiirs of his kingdom and even of the whole world to think 
of, yet w^ill not forget him, but will provide for his food and 
clothing, his education and his pleasure, so w^e can be sure 
that our Father, who rules the world, thinks upon us as his 
children, and loves to make us happy. He would have us 
trust him, so as to have no care nor trouble about what 
shall come to us to-morrow, but leave all care in his hands. 
He feeds the birds, he clothes the lilies ; and we his children 
should not be worried about what we shall eat, or what we 



214 JESUS OF >AZAi;trn. 

shall wear, but should ask him everj' day, as our Father, to 
give us our daily bread ; and, if we make this a real prayer, 
we shall go about our work for the day cheerfully and hope- 
fully, believing thiit God will bless and prosper us. And, 
in thus trustuig our earthly wants to God's blessing upon 
our industry, we can give our hearts to th^ higher welfare 
of our spiritual and immortal natures, — can " seek fir^t the 
kingdom of Go<l/' ainV *May uj) for ourselves treasures in 
heaven." 

Having this in view, we should pray most earnestly for 
spiritual good, to be freed from sin, and to be kept from 
temptation and evil. But just here Jesus teaches us that, 
to pray rightly, we must also feel and act aright. If we pray 
to God to foi-give our sins, we must be ready to forgive 
those who wrong and injure us. If we really wish to 
become like our Father in heaven, and, by doing his will, 
to make heaven in our hearts, then we should pray and 
seek to be kept from the power of evil, and from all 
temptations that might lead us to evil thought^ to e\'il 
feelings, or to evil acts. And for such help as this, the help 
of God's own Spirit, giving strength to our spirits, we can 
pray with the highest confidence. For God wishes us to be 
pure, and true, and wholly gooil ; and if earthly parents 
wish to see their chiliben well and safe and happy, and will 
do all in their power to secure to them such good gifts, how 
nuKh more shiUl our Father which is in heaven give good 
tliinirs to them that ask him ! 




TiiK WiiM>\v WHO «;avk All that she hai> 



THE lord's prayer, AND THE GOLDEN RULE. 215 



But to pray rightly we must live rightly ; and the same 
feelings of love and trust toward our heavenly Father that 
lead us truly to pray will lead us to act toward our fellow- 
men with feelings of good-will. So Jesus, at the same time 
that he taught us how to pray and how to trust, taught 
us how to live and how to give. G-ive with a free heart, 
but with a quiet hand ; give privately, when this is possible ; 
and never give for show, or to get glory from man, even 
when for the sake of example, or to help a public object, 
you give openly. Never boast of your charity: do not 
let even the left hand know what the right hand doeth. To 
be sure, money given to the poor would do them as much 
good, as mere money, if, like the Pharisees, we should have 
a trumpet sounded before the cliurch-door, or at the street- 
corner, to gather beggars to receive our alms. But what 
money buys is not all the good that comes of giving : every 
act of kindness to another should bless our own hearts with 
tlie warmth of love ; and this it will do, if we give, not 
from pride nor for praise, but from real love and sympathy ; 
and, besides, when we give with real kindness, our looks 
and words, the very tones of our voices, will do good, as 
well as the gifts we bestow. Indeed, the act we do may 
help only some bodily want of the poor, but the manner of 
doing this may cheer and bless the heart ; and thus we may 
soften and refine the feelings of others, and make theii' 
lives smooth and cheerful. 



216 JESUS OP NAZABETH. 

To know how to give, we must learn how to love ; for, bj 
kind words and feelings, we can give to others a share of 
whatever good thing we carry in our own hearts. But how 
to love ? At first that seems so easy ! for children grow up 
to love their parents and one another, and love seems to be a 
feeling of nature tliat comes of itself. But Jesus says, " If 
ye love them which love you, what tliank have ye ? and, 
if ye do good to them which do good to you, what tliank 
have ye ? " If we would know the full blessing of love, 
if we would be like our Father in heaven by loving as God 
loves, we must go far beyond that natural feeling which 
prompts us to love those who love us ; we must love our 
enemies, and be ready to forgive them, and to do them good ; 
if we do not forgive others, we cannot pray to be forgiven ; 
we must be kind to the evil and the unthankful ; and though 
wo dislike their characters, reprove their faults, and shun 
their ways, wo must wish them good and not evil, and try 
to do good to them as often as we have the opportunity ; 
we must even bless them who curse us, and pray for those 
who seek to do us wrong ; we must be gentle and patient 
under injuries, and never allow the feeling of hatred or 
of revenge ; we must remember that our Father in heaven 
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and 
sendeth rain on the just and the unjust ; and by this kind, 
even, and universal love we must strive to become perfect 
even as our Father in heaven is perfect. ^Vll tliis makes 



THE lord's prayer, AND THE GOLDEN RULE. 217 

love far from the easy thing it appeared at first ; but at the 
same time it makes it the most lovely thing we can imagine. 
And Jesus has given a very easy rule for learning and prac- 
tising this perfect, this heavenly love : As ye would that 

MEN should DO TO YOU, DO YE ALSO TO THEj\I LLKE- 
WISE. 

" Tit for tat " is the rule that human nature loves to 
practise. Children begin with this in their little quarrels ; 
grown-up men, and even nations, carry it out in their dis- 
putes ; and the Jews went so far as to make this a rule of 
their religion, — ** An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a 
tooth." 

" Served him right," we are apt to say, when a quarrel- 
some boy or man '' gets as good as he gave." But Jesus 
taught us not to do to others as they do to us, but as we 
would like to have them do to us. If they are in poverty, 
trouble, soitow, we should put ourselves in their place, and 
feel and act toward them as we should wish them to feel and 
act toward us. If others injure us by word or deed, instead 
of flying into a passion, and retorting in the same way, we 
should set an example of patience, of mildness, of dignity, 
of magnanimity. " Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right 
cheek, turn to him the other also ; forgive, and ye shall be 
forgiven." And, even when others are wholly in the wrong, 
we should be more disposed to pity than to blame, and 
should take into account their circumstances, their tempta- 



218 JESU8 OF y^VZABETH. 

tions, their necessities, their weaknesses. '* Judge not, and ye 
shall not be judged ; condemn not, and ye shall not be 
condemned ; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven." 

By this broad rule of love, Jesus did not intend to abolish 
law, to do away with penalty, to give free range to the 
wicked to do as they please, without reproof or punishment. 
That would be to set vice above virtue, and to put it in the 
power of sin and evil to rule the world without resist- 
ance. No one ever condemned sin more strongly than did 
Jesus ; no one ever pronounced more terrible rebukes, nor 
threatened more terrible woes to evil-doers. The very 
purity of love for what is true and good made him a burn- 
ing fire toward all falsehood and evil. More than once we 
are told that he looked upon the Pharisees with anger ; and 
how solemnly he warned them of ^* the damnation of hell.*' ' 
But, in such warnings and rebukes, Jesus showed his love 
of trutli, of purity, of goodness, and the yearning of his 
heiu't to turn men away from sin, that tliey might be saved. 
Never, never did he sliow anger at any wrong done to 
himself ; never, never did he threaten his persecutors ; with 
his dying breath, ujx)n the cross, he prayed for his mur- 
derei's, ** Father, foi-give them: they know not what they do." 
And if we are filled with the love of Jesus, if we make his 
** Sermon on the Mount " tlie rule of our lives, though we 
shall hate all wrong and sin, and shall feel that wrong-doere 

1 Matt xxUi. 33. 



THE lord's PRAYEE, AND THE GOLDEN RULE. 219 

should be punished, and that love itself must be just, yet 
we shall pity the transgressor, and show kindness to the 
evil-doer. Though love must and will honor the law that 
God himself has given for the praise of the good, and for 
the punishment of the evil, yet as the law of our own lives, 
to govern all our thoughts and feelings and actions toward 
others, we should bind upon our hearts — 

THE GOLDEN RULE. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

VISITS TO JERUSALEM. — A KEY TO HIS FATE. 

The quiet home life of Jesus at Caperaanm was varied 
by visits to Jerusalem, where he came in contact with 
excited crowds, and often found or made more enemies 
than friends. Jerusalem was then the hotbed of religious 
fanaticism and of political disturbance. The Jews had pat 
up with the oppression of Herod the Great, because, with 
all his crimes and extortions, he had humored them in their 
religion, and had rebuilt their temple. They contrived to 
have Archelaus banished by the Roman emperor, since, with 
the wickedness of his father Herod, he had not his wit for 
managing the people. But though they thus got rid of a 
tyrant, and of a hateil family of kings, the Jews only 
brought themselves more completely under the power of the 
Romans. Herod the Great had been set up as a king by 
a Roman army, and had kept himself in power by means 
of costly presents to the Roman emperor, and by building 
cities and temples in his honor ; but as he called himself a 
Jew (though he Wiis descended from an old Paijan family 

220 



VISITS TO JERUSALEM. — A KEY TO HIS FATE. 221 



of Edom), and kept up the Jewish worship on a splendid 
scale, the people did not then feel that they were under 
the direct yoke of the Roman empire. Now, however, by 
asking the Romans to deliver them from the son of Herod, 
they had put themselves completely into the hands of this 
foreign Pagan power ; and, like the frogs in the fable, they 
had got ** King Stork " to come among them to devour them. 
Though they had known cruelties and oppressions before, 
these had been ofifset by certain privileges; and, under all the 
foreign rulers whose rod they had felt in the course of five 
huntlred years, they had still kept up the spirit of national 
life, and some forms and signs of their old independence. 
liut now Roman soldiers were quartered upon every town, 
and tax-gatherers of the Roman government swarmed over 
the land; every Jew had to have his name registered at a 
Roman tax-oflSce, and to give an account of his property: so 
that the people felt in the keenest way that they were under 
their heathen masters. We read continually, in the Gospels, 
of the "centurion'* and the "publican," the representatives 
of Roman might and of Roman greed. 

The Roman governor took away fi*om the sanhedrim its 
old right of punishing religious offences by death ; and the 
high priest could not hold office nor officiate in public with- 
out his consent. As a rule, the Romans treated the Jews 
with severity and contempt. They ridiculed their religion, 
and sometimes set up images, and had Pagan festivals, in 



222 jEsrs OF nazareth. 

places which the Jews held sacred. What Tacitus, the 
Roman historian, has written of the rites and ceremonies 
of the Jews, charging them with silly customs and immoral 
habits, shows how they were generally looked upon by the 
Romans.* But poor, weak, crushed, hated, as they were, the 
Jews kept true to the forms of their rtUgion. In old times 
it was their national sin to copy the ways of their heathen 
neighbors ; and for tliis they were often punished by being 
brought under the power of a Pagan government. But 
since their return from captivity in Babylon they had never 
fallen into idolatry ; and tliough their religion had lost much 
of its simplicity and purity, and was burdened with forms, 
rules, and customs not found in the early times, they felt, 
nevertheless, that they were more strict and true in the faith 
than their fathers had been ; and, the more they were hum- 
bled in their political condition, the more they rose in spirit- 
ual pride as the one only people of the one only God. They 
felt it was a sin for such a people to serve another people, 
and these the worshippers of false gods. They read in their 
prophets the promises of the ** kingtlom of Israel/' ** the 
kingdom of God,*' ruling in power and glory over all 
nations, having *•'• dominion from sea to sea, and as long as 
the sun and the moon should endure." The signs foretold 
by Daniel seemed to be taking place before their eyes. It 
must be that the Messiah was soon to come ; and he would 

^ Tacitus, History, book v. chap, b. 



VISITS TO JERUSALEM. — A KEY TO HIS FATE. 223 



set them free, and put all enemies under their feet. Who- 
ever would preach up their law, preach up their pride, 
preach up the kingdom of God, and at the same time 
promise them victory, independence, and power as a nation, 
would get their ears, would draw them after him, would 
raise theto to such a fever that they were ready to receive 
liim as the Christ, and to crown him as a king. Thus, 
shortly after the birth of Jesus, a native of Gahlee by the 
name of Judas raised a large body of armed men to resist 
the census which the Roman emperor had ordered. He 
promised his followers to restore the '' kingdom of God," as 
this was established by Moses, and urged them, as the 
people of God, to refuse to submit to any human power. 
One of his sons gave liimself out as the Messiah. Again, 
some years after the death of Jesus, a famous Theudas 
pretended to be sent to deliver the people, and led 
thousands to follow him to the Jordan by promising that 
he would make the river divide before him, as had been 
done by Joshua and again by Elijah.^ Indeed, in those 
days, fanatics and impostors were continually setting them- 
selves up for the Messiah, and promising to drive out the 
Romans ; and the people, though often deceived, were 
always on the lookout for their deliverer. Now, by his 
miracles, Jesus at times raised the feeling that he would be 
this expected deliverer of the nation; so that they were 

^ Josephus. 



224 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

ready even " by force to make him king." * But, though he 
did preach up the law, he charged them with breaking it, 
and needing repentance, and reformation of life. Though 
he preached the kingdom of God, he made this so pure and 
spiritual and holy that none could enter it without being 
bom again. And hence many hated him with all the 
intensity of that pride and patriotism that led them to 
look for a political king and saviour. Their very longing 
for such a Mcssiali re-acted against him as the preacher of 
meekness, of Iioliness, and of love. Tlie fierce opposition 
of religious and political parties was roused against him 
when he went to Jerusalem. Religious teachers hated 
Jesus because they saw that his words stirred the hearts of 
the people, and drew multitudes after him, and that eveiy 
word told against the scribes and Pharisees, and tended to 
break their power. Much as different teachers and different 
schools may have quarrelled among themselves, they all 
agreed in opposing this new teacher, who accused them of 
changing the laws of Moses, and ^^ making the word of God 
of no efToct." * Political leaders hated Jesus because, when 
he was popular enough to have made himself king, be 
did nothing to open the way to their ambition, but even 
denounced them as false guides and oppressors. Now, ever}* 
leader had his party, and could stir up a tumult against 
Jesus by charging him with beincr an enemy of the nation ; 

1 John vi. la. * Mark. riL 13. 



I 



VISITS TO JERUSALEM. — A KEY TO HIS FATE. 225 

and the very people who at first followed him, in the hope 
that he was the Messiah, would turn against him when they 
found that he did nothmg for their party or their cause, but 
gave them reproofs and warnings instead of promises and 
rewards. 

This state of things shows why it was, that, whenever he 
went to Jerusalem, Jesus was in some way attacked by the 
priests and Pharisees or by the people, until at last the san- 
hedrim ventured to seize him, and then stiiTed up a mob to 
cry that he must be crucified. At the pool of Bethesda, he 
healed a i>oor man who for thirty-eight years had not been 
able to walk. The news of . this miracle drew crowds 
together to seek after Jesus ; and yet we are told that 
'' they sought to slay him." ^ The reason given is, that " he 
had done these things on the sabbath day." Now, God 
surely had never given a rule for keeping the sabbath that 
would make it unlawful upon that day to heal a sick man, 
or to pull a drowning man or beast out of the water. But 
the '' Doctoi-s of the Law " had made a great many hard and 
foolish rules about the sabbath; and it was by enforcing 
such rules as a necessary part of religion, that they kept 
their control over the ignorant and superstitious people. 
So when Jesus broke through their rules, and drew to him- 
self the wonder and praise of the people, the "doctors" took 
ahirm. They saw that his teaching and example, attended 

1 John V. 16. 



226 JESUS OF N^VZABETH. 

with such wonders, would soon break down their power ; 
and seeing that they could not hinder his works, nor silence 
liis voice, they determined to put him out of the way. 

This hatred of Jesus by the leaders of schools and i»arties 
in Jerusalem was still more marked when they heard that 
the people were already talking about him as the Christ, 
and were saying, " When Christ cometh, will he do more 
miracles than these wKich this man hath done ? '' * The 
Pharisees and chief priests now sent officers to take him ; 
but the honest soldiers heard him preaching to the people, 
and were so much struck with what he said, that they did 
not dare to touch him. Afterwards, going oi>enly into the 
temple, he there uttered the most wonderful and lovely 
sayings about *' the light of the world," the '* freedom of the 
truth," the ** love of his Father," the victory over death ; 
but, at the same time, reproved the people for their sins and 
their unbelief, and for this they l>egan to abuse him. Tliey 
called him a Samaritan, as a name of contempt; they 
said, ^^ Thou hast a devil," and so mocked at all he said and 
did as the effect of magic or of a wicked demon. At last 
the mob spirit was fairly roused ; and ** they took up stones 
to cast at him," ^ so that Jesus was obliged to escape for his 
life. This was at the feast of tabernacles in the fall, when 
Jerusalem was crowded with strangers. 

The same thing happened to him again the following 

^ John rii. 31. * John riii. 50. 



I 



VISITS TO JERUSALEM. — A KEY TO HIS FATE. 227 



winter, at the feast of the dedication of the temple. Now, 
as before, Jesus showed his character by works of love, and 
by words of love. These excited the wonder and raised the 
hopes of the people ; but, at the same time, they roused the 
jealousy of the Pharisees. He gave sight to a man who 
had been blind from his birth. No such wonder had been 
done in Jerusalem, and the whole city was full of it. But, 
the more the people ran after Jesus, the more their rulers 
feared him and hated him. Tlie Pharisees brought up the 
old charge ; he had broken the sabbath day ; and therefore he 
must be ** a sinner," and, so far from being the Son of 
God, must have an evil spirit, a " devil," within him. 
Jesus answered them by his beautiful parable of the good 
shepherd, who was ready to give his life for the sheep.' 
But the people onl}- quarrelled over his words, first among 
themselves and then with him. At last they charged him 
with blasphemy, in " making himself God ; " and they took 
up stones again to stone him. For a while he kept them in 
check by defending from their own Bible his right to call 
himself the Son of God ; but " they thought again to take 
him ; " and, seeing that liis life could not be safe in Jerusa- 
lem, he made his escape, and went away to a retired place 
beyond the River Jordan.- Here we must anticipate in a 
few words what belongs to later chapters ; since it is only 
by understanding the religious jealousies and the political 
1 John X. 1-18. 2 John x. 22-40. 



228 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

plottings of Jerusalem tliat wo get the kev fn tlie fate of 
Jesus. 

While he was on the other side of Jordan, Martha and 
^lary sent him word that their brother Lazarus, whom he 
so deeply loved, was sick ; and Jesus came back as far as 
Bethany, to perform the greatest of his miracles, in raising 
Lazarus from the dead. The news of this ran like wildfire, 
and brought crowds fi*om Jerusalem out to Bethany to see 
for themselves tlic unheard-of wonder of a dead man who 
had risen from tlie grave, and was again alive. Indeed, 
messengers had hunied to the city, only two hours distant, 
to warn the Pharisees that the new prophet had come back 
again, and that everybody was ready to believe on him. 
The great sanhedrim was now called together ; and the 
chief priests and Pharisees, who had so often tried to get 
Jesus put out of the way by a mob or by an assassin, took 
advantage of the fickleness of the people ; and by spreading 
a rumor, that, if Jesus was allowed to go on, the Romans 
would come to destroy the nation, they got the ignorant 
multitude upon their side, and made it so unsafe for Jesus 
to appear in public, that he once more retreated into the 
wilderness on the eastern side of Jordan, and did not again 
show himself in Jerusalem until he came to meet his death. 
No wonder that from the depth of his soul he cried, *' O 
Jerusalem, Jenisalem ! thou that killest the prophets, and 
stonest them which are sent unto thee I -how often would I 



VISITS TO JERUSALEM. — A KEY TO HIS FATE. 229 

have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth 
her chickens under her wings, and ye would not ! "^ Prob- 
ably in no other city of Palestine would he have met such a 
fate ; but, in the ferment of Jerusalem in those days, it could 
not be otherwise than that such teachings and warnings should 
provoke the cry, " Let him be crucified ! " One has only to 
recall scenes in Paris during the Revolution of 1790 and the 
Commune of 1871, to realize that such violence was an out- 
break of human nature, and not a special crime of the Jews. 
That they felt themselves to be sincere, they showed when 
Pilate wished them to let him go, by crying out, " His blood 
be upon us and on our children." ^ 

1 Matt, xxiii. 37. ^ Matt, xxvii. 25. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE PAKABLES OF JESUS. 

Every child has read J*lt>up s l-.ill. s a:i<l l..i> learned 
from them some wise and good kc»>oiii uliicli he will 
remember as long as he lives. At first he was taken with 
the idea of beasts, birds, fishes, insects, trees, talking to one 
another, and having the same ideas and feelings, the same 
wishes, hopes, pleasures, fears, tliat he found in himsell In 
growing older he has learned that animals and plants do not 
talk, nor show the same signs of moral feeling with men ; 
but he still remembers the moral of the fable, and remem- 
bers it all the better from hanng fii^st learned it in that way. 
Indeed, he sometimes finds that the fable has a deeper 
meaning than he used to see in it when a child, and contains 
more wisdom than a book of philosophy. In the same way, 
a proverb will be remembered and quoted long after a ser- 
mon is foi'gotten. 

For this reason Jesus made much use of parables and 
proverbs in teaching his doctrines of the kingtlom of heaven 
and the way of life. The truths he tiiugh^ were broad and 

230 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS. 231 



deep as any thing in the old philosophies ; and sometimes, 
as in the Sermon on the Mount, and in discourses reported 
by John, he spoke as a philosopher ; and, though his words 
were clear, their meaning was so full and vast that no mind 
has yet been able to exhaust the contents of some of his 
sayings.* But he loved rather to speak in parables. By so 
doing he fixed the attention of his hearers, and helped them 
to remember what he said ; he set them to thinking and 
studying ; for liis parables were often like a seed which was 
sown in their minds, and in part hidden, until it should 
grow and show a much larger meaning than at first; and, 
besides, he taught them in this way to look upon what was 

^ The marked difference iii style between the discourses of Jesus, 
reported by John, and those given by the other evangelists, has led 
some to doubt whether the fourth Gospel was really written by the 
apostle whose name it bears, and to ascribe it to some Christian philoso- 
pher of a later day, who put into the mouth of Jesus himself the doc- 
trines that had grown up around his life and teaching. But the Jesus 
whom John describes does not differ from the Jesus in the other Gospels 
more widely than Socrates, as he appears in Plato's Dialogues, differs 
from Socrates in Xenophon's narrative ; and in the Sermon on the 
Mount and in some of the parables there are sayings as deep and full as 
any thing given by John. We know, too, that Jesus often talked to 
his disciples apart from the people, and then went deeper into the 
mysteries of his life and doctrines. No one evangelist professes to give 
all that Jesus said and did. Each would naturally give prominence to 
what most impressed his own mind, and w^ould report this in his own 
way. Now, the style of John in his epistles shows that his mind and 
heart would have seized upon just such sayings of Jesus as his Gospel 
contains. 



232 JESUS OP NAZABETH. 

passing around them in nature and in the world as always 
teaching some moral lesson, some higher truth of the king- 
dom of God. Thus he linked together his own age with 
future times, through truths that grow more and more from 
one generation to another ; and he linked the natural world 
to the spiritual by analogies full of beauty and of life. 

Of all the parables that Jesus spoke, only thirty are pre- 
served in the Gospels. Many of these have not more than 
two or three lines ; and, in some cases, two or three words 
contain the whole lesson of the parable. Yet even two or 
three words, like " the pearl of great price/* the " leaven 
in the meal,'* the ** treasure in the field," the ** grain of 
mustard-seed,** * give a lesson that we can apply to so many 
things, and in so many wajrs, that we can repeat it ever}- day, 
as long as we live, without using up its wisdom, or tirini: 
of its simple beauty. 

Most of the parables of Jesus refer to the ^* kingdom 
of heaven ; ** for this was the great subject of which he 
tiUked, and about which the minds of his hearers were busy. 
The first of the parables, as recorded by Matthew, — the 
parable of the sower, — was a picture of the way in which 
his own preaching and the preaching of his apostles was 
likely to be received ; tlie way, in fact, in which the gospel 
is received by dififerent classes to this day. As we have 
seen in the sketch of his life at Capernaum, his Sermon on 

1 MattxiiL 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS. 233 



the Mount, and his teachings and miracles in the town, had 
made such a stir, that he could not go out without a crowd 
gathering around him, who were ready enough to be his 
disciples, if they could be sure that he was the Messiah, 
and would set up the kingdom of heaven. Jesus felt that 
the time had come to sift such hearers by testing their real 
interest in him and his doctrine ; so one morning, when 
even a greater crowd than usual pressed around him as he 
was standing on the shore of the Lake of Galilee, he stepped 
into a boat, and pushed out a little way from the land. 
Looking over the eager multitude, his eye would rest upon 
the rich plain of Gennesareth, and the rounded hills in the 
background, from which the towns along the shore drew 
their supplies of fruit and grain ; and perhaps, at that very 
moment, he could see in the distance a sower scattering the 
seed for a new crop. No fences divided the fields, nor even 
separated the grain from the beaten paths, over which foot- 
passengers and beasts of burden made their way to and 
from the lake. The sower could not stop to plant each 
separate grain of wheat securely in a furrow prepared for 
it, — to pluck up the thorns, to throw away the stones, to 
break up the fallow ground : he must scatter the seed 
broadcast over the ploughed field, let it fall where it would ; 
and some would fall by the wayside, and be eaten up by 
the birds ; some would drop into stony places, to sprout and 
wither ; some would be choked by thorns ; and some would 



234 JESUS OP NAZARETH. 

fall into good ground, and yield a good crop.* So is it every- 
where ; in the world of nature and of grace, — 

" God scatters love on every side 
Freely among his children all; 
And always hearts are lying open wide, 
Wherein some grains may fall." 

But though truth and love, like the sunshine and the rain, 
are dropping from the skies for all alike, our hearts may 
catch no good if they are luird and selfish ; or the best gifts 
of God may be' choked within us by our worldly wishes 
and unholy feelings. It is not enough that the good seed 
is sown, or that a good share of it falls to us. 

God, whose hand of love is ever}*where, is not the only 
sower. The enemy, the Evil One, is always busy sowing 
tares in our hearts and in the world ; trying to mix evil 
with good, and to make every good beginning turn out 
badly. The sower of the good seed cannot give his time 
to watching tares : he warns us to be watchful^ to keep out 
the evil, and to cherish tlie good.^ At the same time, we 
must take care not to spoil the good by trying to make it 
grow too fast, or yield too much ; if we pull up the plant 
every day, to see how the roots grow, we shall soon bring it 
to an end. AV^hen the good seed is planteil in us, we must 
let it grow quietly and naturally ; and, though at first it 

1 Matt xiii. 1-9. * Matt. xiii. 24-80. 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS. 235 

seems no bigger than a grain of mustard-seed, it will by 
and by branch out with beautiful flowering twigs, the home 
of singing birds. ^ 

To make life a success, to give a real dignity and worth 
to our living in the world, we must set truth before every 
thing in our hearts, and must obey truth above every thing 
in our actions. We often hear it asked, " What is such a 
man worth ? " and the answer is, " He is worth so many 
millions." Yet, with all his millions, the man himself may 
be worth little or nothing to the world. Like the rich fool, 
just when he thinks he has all he needs, and " has much 
goods laid up. for many years," his soul may be summoned 
empty and naked before God, with not one good thing to 
show for all it has liad.^ What has he added to the real 
value of life, either by his ideas, liis principles, his feelings, 
or his actions? This must show how much he is really 
worth, whether he is truly *'rich towards God; " and every 
man may make himself worth just as much as there is in 
him of capacity for good. To gain that value, we must be 
willing to part with every other. As the wise man had said, 
" Buy the truth, and sell it not," ^ so Jesus taught us to give 
up every thing else, — riches, honors, pleasures, — to get the 
hidden treasure of wisdom, the priceless pearl of truth.* 
And, rightly to possess the truth, it is not enough that we 

1 Mark iv. 26-34. ^ Luke vii. 16-21. 

« Prov. xxiii. 23. * Matt. xiii. 44-46. 



236 JESUS OF NAZAKETH. 

accept it with the understanding, nor even that we acknowl- 
edge it with the heart: we must incorporate it with our verj* 
self, 80 that it shidl move all our springs of thought, of feel- 
ing, and of action, and, like the leaven in the meal, shall 
work itself into every atom of our being.* We cannot mix 
truth and error, good and evil, any more than we can *^ put 
new cloth in an old garment,'' or " new wine in old bottles/'* 
"I am the truth," said Jesus; for truth was his very life; 
and that life, through which the truth of God continually 
shone, was the light of the world. 

The first series of parables taught, in many forms, how 
** the kingdom of heaven " should be received into the 
heart, and there be nourished as a growth and a life. But 
what if one had neglected this heavenly wisdom, had 
failed to pmfit by the voice of truth planted in his con- 
science, liad suffered his heart to be filled with the spirit 
of this world, and his life to be wasted upon low and selfish 
aims ? Then other parables show how Grod*s love is greater 
than our folly, his grace greater than our sin. Like the 
woman who sweeps the house, and searches it, to find a lost 
piece of silver ; like the shephenl who leaves his whole 
flock, and goes up and down the wilderness seeking the one 
lost sheep, — so God turns aside from the blessed society of 
angels, to seek the lost children of men. And though the 
prodigal had abused his father's love, and turned his l>ack 
» Matt xiii. 33. « Luke r. 36-3©. 



THE PAYABLES OF JESUS. 237 



upon his father's house, and had sunk himself to the lowest 
company ; yet in his want and wretchedness, when all have 
forsaken him, and his very vices in which he rioted have 
turned him out of doors among the swine, his father longs 
for him, pities him, welcomes his return, strips off his rags, 
kisses away his tears, presses him to his heart.^ 

If we feel ourselves weak to break away from evil, if our 
hearts are heavy with doubts and fears, then Jesus has set 
before us the blessedness of prayer as a help for every 
need ; if, with the publican, our simple, heartfelt cry is, " God 
be merciful to me a sinner," ^ the answer of mercy is ready 
beforehand ; if like the widow, alone and helpless, we beg 
to be delivered from trials, griefs, and enemies, the righteous 
Judge will hear and help ; ^ if, like the traveller at mid- 
night, we come hungry and weary, we shall have bread and 
shelter.* Greater far than all human patience, sympathy, 
compassion, is the love of our heavenly Father. " If a son 
shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give 
him a stone ? Or, if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him 
a serpent ? Or, if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a 
scorpion ? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good 
gifts unto your children, how much more shall your 
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask 
him ! " ^ Even though we should seem to be utterly for- 

1 Luke XV. 1-32. 2 L^ke xviii. 13. « Luke xviii. 2-8. 
* Luke xi. 5-8. ^ Luke xi. 11-13. 



238 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

gotten and forsaken, and like Lazarus should lie at the rich 
man's gate, and be licked by the dogs ; yet, if through all 
we cling to God as our portion, we shall find at last his 
angels ready to carry us to Abraham's bosom.^ Great as 
may be our patience under the seeming delays of Provi- 
dence, God's patience is greater far under the delays and 
provocations of our sins. The son who proudly said, "I 
will not," yet afterwards repented and went ; the laborers 
who, after standing all day idle, came at last at the eleventh 
hour, — received commendation and reward unmixed with 
any word of reproof. So freely, so largely, does God give 
of that grace which is altogether his own. ^ 

Yet mingled with these parables of love and tenderness 
were others of warning against despising mercies and 
abusing grace. Not what we receive, but what we do and 
are, determines our character : that " which goeth out of a 
man defileth him." ^ The kingdom of God is set before us 
as a rich and abundant feast ; all things are ready, and the 
invitation is free and urgent. But if we slight the gener- 
osity of the host, and make weak and frivolous excuses for 
staying awa}-, we shall find at last the opportunity lost; 
and those whom we may have thought beneath us in point 
of privilege — the very heathen — coming from the east and 
from the west, from the north and from the south, to sit 
down in the kingdom of God.* Yes, if those who are 

1 Luke xvi. 22. « ^latt. xx. 1-16. 

8 Matt. XV. 10-20. * Luke xiii. 28, 29, xiv. 16-24. 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS. 239 

invited to the marriage of the king's son treat the messen- 
gers with contempt and violence, they may even be pun- 
ished as rebels.^ Such blessings as Jesus brings in the 
gospel cannot be treated lightly. The fact of having them 
makes us responsible for using them. It is true of all 
privileges and advantages, — our birth, our natural talents, 
our education, our property, our position, — that "to whom 
much is given, of him much shall be required." ^ So is it 
with the spiritual blessing of the gospel. The householder 
who has planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, 
and digged a wine-press in it, and built a tower; in one 
word, who has done every thing to bring forward the vines, 
and protect them from injury, — has a right to look for a good 
crop of fruit, and may justly be angry with the husbandmen 
if, after all, they seize the vineyard as their own, and use the 
fruit for themselves, or foohshly waste it. He would even 
do right to cut them off from privileges they had so badly 
abused, and to give the vineyard to others.^ The fig-tree, 
which for years has been tended with care, may at last be 
cut down, if it yields no fruit.* 

The good we so freely receive, we must as freely share. 
The favor that God shows to us, we must show to our 
fellows. If in the greatness of his compassion the Lord has 
forgiven us ten thousand talents, we must not be hard upon 

1 Matt. xxii. 1-14. 2 L^^e xii. 48. 

8 Matt. xxi. 33-46. * Luke xiii. 6-9. 



240 JESUS OP NAZARETH. 

a fellow-creature for a debt of a hundred pence, but from 
our hearts must forgive every one his brother^s trespasses,^ 
must forgive him over and over again, even *' until seventy 
times seven.'* ^ 

The things of this life, committed to our trust, we most 
so use in deeds of good-will to others, that even the 
^' mammon of unrighteousness,'* that is commonly the foe 
of piety, shall be turned into a friend to plead for us by the 
good use to which we have put it ; * and yet, when we have 
done all, wc must remember that we are only stewards, and 
be ready to say, " We are unprofitable servants : we have 
done that which was our duty to do.'* * God's mercy to us 
sliould move us to gratitude to him, and to pity for others ; 
the sense of our sinfulness and ill-desert will move us to 
pour forth our gratitude, like precious ointment, at the 
feet of Jesus. lie who has had much forgiven will love 
much.^ And the sense of our own need and nothingness 
will prompt us to pity and relieve all who are in any troaUe 
or distress, w ithout regard to outw^ard differences or condi- 
tions. Like the Good Samaritan, we shall look upon every 
man as a neighbor, and pity and help every sufferer as a 
brother.^ The blessings conferred upon us, the gifts in- 
trusted to us, summon us to watchful fidelity in view of 
our final account. The " pounds,*' the ** talent,'* put into 

1 Matt, iviii. 21-35. « Matt rriii. 21-55. • Lulre xri. 1-ia. 

* Luke xTii. 7-10. » Luke rii. 40-60. • Luke x. 24^37. 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS. 241 



our hands, are not simply to be kept from rust and waste : 
they are to be improved in the ser\dce of the Master, and 
kept in readiness for his coming. His rebuke for neglect and 
abuse will be as sharp and severe as his reward of faithfulness 
will be rich and free. "We have only to be true to our trust, 
and we shall enter in to the joy of our Lord.^ But we must 
" occupy till he come ; " ^ and like the wise virgins, with 
our lamps fed and trimmed, must watch and hope, always 
in readiness ; '* for we know neither the day nor the hour 
when the Son of man cometh."^ 

The circle of parables, that began with sowing the good seed 
of the kingdom, with the promise of a hundred-fold fruitful- 
ness to every good and willing heart, closed with the rewards 
and honors of the faithful use of the gospel, to be realized by 
the *M)lessed of the Father" in the glory of the heavenly 
state. Yet death, that must determine the final coming of 
the kingdom, shall also discriminate as to its true heirs and 
possessors. " For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net 
that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind : which, 
when it was full, they drew to the shore, and sat down, and 
gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So 
shall it be at the end of the world : the angels shall come 
forth, and sever the wicked from among the just." ^ Well 
might Jesus say to us, as he said to the first hearers of these 
parables, " Have ye understood all these things? " ^ 

1 Matt. XXV. 14-30. ^ Lu^g xix. 12-27. « Matt. xxv. 1-14. 

* Matt xiii. 47-49. ^ Matt. xiii. 51. 



CHAPTER XXVn. 



THE MIRACLES OF JESUS. 



As with the parables of JesuK, so with his miracles, — a 
small part only of these wonderful works was put on reoord 
by the evangelists. Again and again they tell us that he 
did many mighty works, and ^* healed all manner of sickness 
and all manner of disease among the people ; '' ' and, in the 
warmth of his admiration of the life of his Lord, John sa3r8, 
" There are also many other things which Jesus did, the 
which, if they should be written every one, I supjiose that 
even the world itself could not contain the books that 
should be written." ' Yet it is not the number of miracles 
that Jesus did, but their reality as facts, their nature, their 
mciming, -their object, that give character to his life and 
works. One real miracle, such as his own resurrection, 
would be enough to confirm him as tlie Son of God. The 
question is one of fact. 

The laws of nature are so fixed and uniform that it is 
hard for us to believe in the reality of any event that seems 
» Matt. iv. 23. * John xxi. 25. 

242 



THE MIRACLES OF JESUS. 243 



counter to the regular course of things as we have known 
it. Experience leads us to doubt whether such an event is 
even possible ; and reason demands that the report of it 
should be investigated with unusual care. But to say that 
an event counter to what we have hitherto observed to be 
the course of nature is impossible, and therefore not worth 
investigating, is unfair to our own reason, and to the 
character of trustworthy witnesses, and is itself counter to 
the spirit of true science. We do not know enough of 
nature, much less of the universe of which physical nature is 
only a lower platform, to affirm that nothing can ever take 
place, nor has ever taken place, contrary to, or even aside 
from, what we have observed to be the course of things in 
the material world. We da not know the whole of nature, 
— as, for instance, what lies between us and the fixed stars, 
or what is beyond those stars in infinite space ; what forms, 
what forces, are there ; or what is the constitution and 
condition of the interior of the earth on which we live. 
Science has often changed, and is still changing, its views 
upon such points, which have been for ages the study of 
man. What we call " laws of nature " are not original 
powers, not first and independent causes, but only the 
regular course and method by which certain events are ob- 
served to come to pass. One set of causes or conditions has 
always been observed to produce the same event, or, at least, 
to be followed by the same event ; and this we name the law 



244 JESUS OF NAZABETU. 

of nature in that case : as, that fire will bum wood or flesh ; 
that a stick or a stone thrown into the air will not fly like a 
bird, but will fall to the ground. But what we call ^he law 
in this case may not be the real power that brings the event 
to pass. This may lie far back of any thing that we can see 
or trace ; and the cause that stands next before the event 
may be only the last in a long chain of causes or conditions 
preceding the event, each of which stands connected with 
the result, and goes to make up the law. £ver>^ one of these 
causes may be in turn a sequence, a fact that follows some 
other fact ; and the so-called law may be nothing more than 
a string of sequences whose starting-point we do not know. 
What we trace in nature are these rows of secondary 
causes ; but there always remains something behind, that we 
do not get hold of. From time to time, science brings to 
light secondary causes that we had not before observed, 
or gives new forms, new names, new functions, to cauaet 
already known ; so that wc are still learning nature, and are 
sometimes obliged to give up old notions of laws and causes^ 
for some new principle or mode of action. Geology, magnet- 
ism, light, heat, sound, the diseases of the human body, give 
many examples of the changes which science has produced 
in our mode of conceiving of nature and its laws. No 
doubt other changes are yet to come ; for scienoe — as, for 
instance, in the deep^ea dredgings — is always searching 
after something new ; and, behind every new hci that it 



THE MIRACLES OF JESUS. 245 



discovers, starts up again the question, " Why or how is 
this? or what and where is the starting-point of all?" 
And to that question we find no answer in Nature or 
her laws. How much has our knowledge of the universe 
expanded since the invention of the telescope ! how much 
it has increased, and is increasing, since the use of spectrum 
analysis ! And what vast discoveries may yet lie beyond ! 
He, then, who says that this or that is impossible, because 
it seems contrary to what we already know of nature, may 
show only his own ignorance or conceit. True, the event 
that he would so cavalierly thrust aside may be '' wondrous 
strange.'* And therefore, as a stranger, give it welcome. 

** There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." 

Nature has a circumference too vast for our vision ; and 
therefore what we call a miracle, or supernatural, may be 
only some higher plane of Nature, that for a moment crosses 
our plane of vision, — as, century by century, Venus makes 
the transit of our sun, or as a comet, roaming here and there 
in space by its own laws, once in ages flames across our 
sky. Like the comet, like the transit, the miracle, though 
so seldom as to be " wondrous strange," may be but a 
natural contact of the heavenly sphere with the earthly. 

Or who can pretend to know enough of Nature to say 
that all her visible laws and effects do not lie in the grasp 



246 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

of a spiritual power, wliich, without violence to the consti- 
tution of things, may put forth some extra movement for 
an extraordinary end ? He who should deny this to l>e 
possible would only show that his mental horizon is too 
narrow to admit a conception of the universe so vast and 
sublime. Such a philosopher is the real frtteh worshipper, 
who makes that material thing, called Nature, his only God. 
That which he can see and touch, can weigh and analyze, 
is the cause of all, — even of himself. 

How much higher is the conception of a Power lying 
l)ack of all things, the Cause of causes I how much more 
honorable to the human spirit to suppose a spirit over 
Nature, with which man has affinity ! 

The last carriage in a railway-train Is drawn by the chain 
that links it to the carriage before it. Bat that chain is 
not the motive power; this lies in the locomotive far in 
advance ; yet it is not in the nature of the locomotive, 
but in the steam that» causes the engine to move ; and the 
steam is provided by the engineer, whose intelligence so 
uses the nature of fire and of water ; and though the loco- 
motive moves on a fixed track, within the iron rails that 
mark its course, the engineer, by touching a valve, can 
increase or retard its speed, can guide it by his will. Thus, 
though Nature moves in the grooves provide<l in its own 
laws, the invisible hand may know how to touch its springs 
without violence, and even to halt it for a moment without 



THE MIRACLES OF JESUS. 247 



regard to stations or the time-table. What if at this point 
the king is to come on board ? The strange halt arrests the 
attention of everybody ; all heads are out at the windows ; 
and, as the puffing of the engine and the rattling of the 
train have ceased, one hears the music that announces who 
has come, and why the halt was made. So the hum of 
Nature may have been for a moment stilled, the train of her 
events arrested without violence, that men might see and 
hear, might feel and know, the coming of the Prince of 
peace, announced with hosannas. 

In such a case, tlie end would justify the means. If the 
object of a miracle were something trivial, unworthy, vain, 
mean, immoral, we might refuse even to look into the case. 
But when the alleged wonder stands connected with a life 
and character sublimely good, and with a purpose to bless, 
reform, and save mankind, then is the motive great enough 
to justify it; the occiision is worthy of such an attestation; 
and the wonder, instead of being the central figure, the 
show to attract the gaze of men, is simply the herald, the 
trumpeter, to announce that the king has come. So in 
ilie person of Jesus, whose life, teaching, motive, character, 
purpose, and results all combine to set him and his actions 
so far above the common level of our humanity that Renan 
at last says, " This sublime person must even in a sense 
be called divine,'* — in the person and life of Jesus, the 
presumption against miracles is counterbalanced by the 



248 JESUS OF NAZAKETH. 

circumstances of the case ; and his wondrous works are 
open to evidence like any other facts. To say that a miracle 
is impossible, is to beg the question ; for the very ix)int is 
one of fact, whether such things were really done by him. 
To say that a miracle is contrary to experience, is again to 
beg the question ; for oui- experience does not cover the 
whole history of mankind ; and hero in the Gospels are 
witnesses who testify that these evcntii took place before 
their eyes. Now, these witnesses show by the simple, 
straightforward style of their story, that they were honest 
and sincere, men of plain common-si'nse, who themselves 
were slow to believe the greatest of the miracles, — the 
resurrection of Jesus from the dead. They tell the story 
of their own cowardice and wavering and unbelief w^itli 
an honesty that commands our confidence. They do not 
use the miracles for effect : the greater part of them they 
do not even record. They liad nothing to gain — no money, 
no fame, no power — by proclaiming these wonders: on the 
contrary, they put their own lives in danger by declaring 
such facts. They were made better men, and they sought 
to make others better by faith in Jesus. A great lawyer 
has said he ** would like to cross-question these witnesses; *' 
but he forgets that they endured the questioning of the 
cross, and gave their Hves to prove that Jesus had done 
these things, and that they had seen him alive after his 
crucifixion. 



THE MIRACLES OF JESUS. 249 



From the reality of these works of Jesus as facts, we 
come back to their meaning and value. The proof of a 
power iu Jesus, that does not belong to men, was as strong 
in his raising Lazarus from the dead, as if he had stood in 
the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and called forth the dead from all 
the tombs that line its sides. The fact of his own resurrec- 
tion will be discussed in a later chapter ; our purpose here 
is to group the miracles, as we have already grouped the 
parables, into a single lesson. To get a true idea of these 
works of Jesus, we must bring them together, and arrange 
them in classes, and see when and how they were done, and 
with what motive and end. 

One class of his miracles relates to nature, — the physical 
world, together with animal and vegetable life. By his 
word he stilled the tempest on the Sea of Galilee, just as the 
courageous and experienced fishermen who manned the boat 
gave up all for lost.^ Again as the disciples were toiling 
and rowing at midnight, in one of those sudden and violent 
tempests for which this lake is noted, Jesus came to them 
walking upon the sea ; and, when Peter tried to go to him, 
Jesus saved him from sinking ; "^ at Cana of Galilee, Jesus 
changed water into wine ; ^ twice he multiplied the loaves 
and fishes so that once four thousand, and again five 

1 Matt. vui. 23-27 ; Mark iv. 36-41 ; Luke viii. 22-25. 

2 ]\Iatt. xiv. 22-33; Mark vi. 45-56 ; John vi. 18-21. 
« John ii. 1-12. 



250 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

thousand men, were fed.* On the way from Bethany to 
Jerusalem, Jesus cursed a fig-tree, and it withered away.' 
Now, all these cases, so different in their form and circum- 
stances, agree in this, — that material things were acted 
upon directly by the trill of Jesus, in a way entirely 
different from the laws of nature. There is no power of 
nature by which water could be turned into wine ; there h 
no power of nature by which loaves of bread could be mul- 
tiplied in the hands of men who were breaking and distrib- 
uting them : yet both these marrels took place without any 
visible act of Jesus capable of producing guch result*. 
That the power of gravity should be suspended, so that a 
man could walk upon the sea instead of sinking, and could 
lift up another man who was sinking at his side, shows that 
a law of nature, which is uniform and universal, was brought 
under some higher power. There could be no natural 
connection between the word of a man, and the withering of 
a tree that was covered with fresh foliage. Hence all these 
miracles agree in showing the power of spirit over matter. 
to change its forms, its qualities, its relations, without 
using any of the laws or processes of nature, and even In 
setting these laws aside : in one word, we here see effects 
of a power like that put forth in creation. But who is able 

1 Matt. xiv. 15-21, xv. ;vj_'^o. M^rk r\. 80-46, viii. 1-0; Luke ix. 
10-17 ; John vi. 1-U. 

2 Matt xxi. 18-22 ; Mark xi. 12-14, 20-26. 



THE MIRACLES OF JESUS. 251 



to prove that spirit in its highest manifestation does not 
possess such power over matter ? 

In the suprising draught of fishes twice repeated, and in 
the catching of a fish with a piece of money in its mouth, 
the wonder was in knowing at the moment where to direct 
the disciples to throw in the net, or in so controlling the 
movements of the fish as to bring them within the net 
at the very moment. In either case this, though differing 
from a direct act of creative power, was a something 
beyond the common range of human power and skill.^ 

Another and a larger series of the miracles of Jesus was 
performed upon the bodies of men : indeed, we are left to 
infer that by far the greater part of his wonderful works 
was wrought for the relief of human suffering. Though 
the number of miracles left on record is small, they cover 
such a variety of cases as to show the control of Jesus 
over every form of human sickness and infirmity and over 
death itself. Six cases are recorded of his giving sight to 
blind men ; and in one of these the man had been born 
blind.- One instance is given of curing a deaf and dumb 
person ;2 two, of healing the palsy ; ^ one, of the dropsy;^ 
three, of other long and hopeless infirmities ; ^ two, at least, 

1 Luke V. 1-11 ; John xxi. 1 ; Matt. xvii. 24-27. 

2 Matt. ix. 27-31. xx. 29-34; Mark vii. 31-35, viii. 22-26, x. 46-52; 
Luke xviii. 35-43 ; John ix. 1-41. 

8 ]\Lark vii. 31-37. * Matt. viii. 5-13, ix. 1-8. ^ Luke xiv. 1-6. 
« Matt. ix. 20-22 ; Luke xiii. 10-17 ; John v. 1-14. 



252 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

of healing that loathsome and incnrable disease, the 
leprosy ; * and three, of curing persons who were given 
over by their fn.twl< as in the last stages of mortal piok- 
ness.2 

That strange infirmity, partly mental, partly physical, 
which the Jews ascribed to the possession of demons or 
devils, called forth in a marked degree the compassion and 
the power of Jesus. Tliis possession seems to have affected 
the brain and other organs of the body, in ways quite 
beyond the control of the sufferer, and beyond the skill of 
physicians. In two of the cases recorded, the victim was 
dumb, or blind and dumb.' In the other four cases, the 
sufferer showed violent and frightful svmptoms of insanity.* 
But in all these cases there was something that distin- 
guished them from common cases of infirmity, of insanity, 
or other disease, — a something which led the people to say 
of the sufferer, '* He hath a devil." Jesus treatoil these 
uniformly as cases of this strange sort of possession ; and 
it was looked upon as a most wonderful sign of his power. 
that he could cast out devils. And such indeed it was ; for 
this showed his power to reach not only over all physical 
nature, but over the hidden world of spirits. 

But, of all the wonders performed by Jesus, the most 

> Matt. viii. 1-4; Luke rvii. 11-19. 

a Matt. viii. 11-17 : Luke viii. 43, 44 : John ir. 46-M. 

• Matt. ix. 3J-34. xii. 22-37. 

* Matt viii. 2S-34. xv. 21-28, xvii. 14-21 ; Mark i. 23-28. 



THE MIRACLES OF JESUS. 253 



astounding was the raising the dead. Not to speak here of 
his own resurrection (which will be the subject of a later 
chapter), three times he brought back others from death to 
life. In the first case, the daugliter of Jairus was dead 
before he reached the house, and had been so long dead 
that friends and neighbors had gathered together, and were 
lamenting her loss, weeping and wailing greatly. When 
Jesus said, *'She is not dead, but sleepeth," they were angry 
with him for trifling with their grief, knotving that she 
was dead ; but, in the presence of her parents and three of 
his disciples, he took her by the hand, and called upon her 
to arise; and "straightway she arose and walked."^ 

In the second case, the people of Nain were carrying a 
(lead man to the burial-place outside of the city. The young 
man was well known ; and great sympathy was felt for his 
widowed mother, who had now lost her only son. Jesus 
lialted the bier, and called upon the young man to arise ; 
and *' he that was dead sat up, and began to speak." ^ In 
the third case, Lazarus had been dead four days ; and 
his body, bound in grave-clothes, was lying in the tomb, 
which was covered with a stone. Jesus had the stone 
rolled away ; and then he cried with a loud voice, " Lazarus, 
come forth;" and he that was dead came forth.^ Now, 
in all these cases, nothing was seen or heard but the 
simple word of Jesus calling upon the dead person to arise ; 
1 Mark v. 22-43. ^ L^ke vii. 11-15. » John xi. 1-46. 



254 JESUS OP NAZARETH. 

and in each case the effect was instantaneous. As soon as 
Jesus spoke, the dead person arose in perfect life and health. 
But there is no power in nature, and no agency' known to 
man, for putting life into a dead lx>dy ; nor can we imagine 
any connection between a word spoken by a man, and an 
effect so astounding. It was the will of Jesus that pos- 
sessed this marvellous power, a power entirely above ami 
apart from all the laws and forces of nature as known and 
observed by men, — the power of spirit over matter, the 
power of God himself in the creation of life. 

Looking closely at the miracles of Jesos, we find that 
they were all performed openly. They were not like the 
wonders which Mohammed reported that he had seen or done 
in the night, with none present to witness them ; not like 
the marvels that spiritists perform in darkened rooms or 
closed cabinets or behind screens : but these wonders were 
done openly, in the light of day, in the presence of many 
witnesses, without any previous notice or preparation, 
and without any air of secrecy or m}-stery. The miracles 
of Jesus were such as men's senses could perceive and 
take notice of: men who had known a blind man, a 
lame man, a paralytic, could see that he was cured ; those 
who had seen a dead man could see if he was alive again. 
There was no possible mistake about such miracles: they 
were widely talked about^ and they were put upon record 
by eye-witnesses, while thousands who had seen them were 



THE MIRACLES OF JESUS. 255 



yet living. These miracles were performed during a period 
of three or four years ; and in the presence of enemies, as 
well as friends. They were never done for show, nor for 
any personal advantage, but always either for a benevolent 
purpose, or for some high moral lesson. Never were they 
mere displays of power ; and yet these mighty works do 
>how forth the divine power of Jesus ; they agree perfectly 
with his character and his doctrines ; they seem natural to 
such a person ; and tliey are written in the story of his life 
that we *' might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of 
God, and that believing we might have life through his 
name." ^ 

We are apt to say, " If I could only see a miracle, I 
would believe.'* But we deceive ourselves in this. Many, 
many, saw the miracles of Jesus, and did not believe. Had 
miracles been continued, they would soon have become mere 
commonplace events. I, for instance, can remember the 
first railroad, the first telegraph, the first steamship across 
the Atlantic, the laying of the first Atlantic cable ; and 
each in turn was looked upon as so great a wonder that it 
was celebrated with flags and cannon, with banquets and 
holidays. But, to the child of to-day, the railroad and the 
steamship ^eem to have existed always ; and telegraph-poles 
are as natural as the trees along the roadside. Had miracles 
continued, they would have become a law of events in 

1 John XX. 31. 



256 JESUS OF MAZABETH. 

connection with the Christian faith ; and nobody would have 
paid attention to them. If it were usual for the dead to 
rise, we should not go to the graveyard to witness the 
fact, but should await their return at home as from any other 
journey. Hence Jesus did not cheapen miracles, did not 
make them common ; used them only to show his love for 
men, and to prove that he came from God. The last and 
greatest miracle, his rising from the dead, establishes all the 
rest. To Him who rose from the dead, it was a small 
thing to make water into wine, to heal diie>i68, to walk 
upon tlie sea. Yet of this, the greatest of miracles, he said 
to the doubting Thomas, ^* Blessed are they that have not 
seen, and yet have believed/* The standing evidence of 
Christianity, the proof that it came from God, is in the life 
of Jesus and in his words. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE TRANSFIGURATION. 

Great were the wonders that Jesus did ; but the greatest 
wonder is what Jesus himself was. His miracles served, so 
to speak, to introduce him to men in his proper personality ; 
yet, on the other hand, his person and character, his heart 
and life, shone through his miracles, and caused these to 
appear in their real nature and worth. When we read how 
this man had absolute power over the physical creation; how 
at a word and look, yes, at the simple will of Jesus without 
any outward act, the blind were made to see, the deaf to 
hear, the dumb to speak, the lame to walk ; how the sea 
grew calm, how bread was multiplied, water was turned 
to wine, the fig-tree was blasted, lepers were cleansed, devils 
were cast out, the dead were raised, — when we begin to 
realize all this, we feel that Jesus was more than man, 
or, if man, was filled with the power of God. Yet when 
we look more closely, we feel that these wonders were 
not of themselves the strongest point in the life of Jesus, 
and that even in the miracles there is a deeper ground 

257 



258 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

of admiration than their supernatural power. Such power 
over nature and man was not peculiar to Jesus. In the 
ten plagues of Egypt, in dividing the Red Sea, in .drawing 
water from a rock, in healing a death-plague by the 
brazen serpent, Moses showed the same control over physi- 
cal bodies and agencies as did Jesus. Elijah ascended 
bodily to heaven ; and Elisha healed the leprosy, and raised 
the dead. Peter healed a lame man at the gate of the 
temple, and restored Dorcas to life ; and the sick and those 
vexed with unclean spirits were brought to the disciples and 
were healed.* But these prophets and apostles never did 
wonders in their own name, nor by their own power ; but 
every wonder was a distinct act of divine power working in 
and through them as its instruments. It was a gift for the 
time ; and they never pretended that it made them divine. 
But in Jesus all such acts were normal and personal ; the 
power was in and of himself, — a part of his being. Men 
saw this in his eyes ; they felt this in his tones; they recog- 
nized this in the way in which he performed wonders, 
without invoking any power outside of himself. Even at 
the grave of Lazarus, he said, *" / am the resurrection and 
the life ; '* and then by his own will he commanded the dead 
man to come forth.' 

The use which Jesus made of miraculous power showed 
behind this a monU power and a personal goodness greater 

1 Acts ix. 32-42. « John xi. 25. 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 259 



than the miracle. Conscious of illimitable power, he was 
perfectly unselfish in the use of it. He never used it merely 
aB power nor for fame, and never, never for gain. He who 
could multiply the loaves for five thousand men refused to 
create bread for himself in the wilderness; he who had 
control over the kingdoms of nature, of death, and of hell, 
refused to be made a king by the crowd who adored his 
power. Even the few miracles of judgment and destruction 
which he wrought were not to strike terror for his name, 
but to teach a moral lesson ; ^ and the great bulk of his 
miracles was for direct objects of benevolence. In these he 
showed a deep and tender sympathy for the sufferers ; he 
"had compassion " upon those whom he helped. He wept 
with Martha and Mar}^, even as he was about to give back 
their brother from the grave. But, the more he put himself 
in s}'mpathy with men, the more did they feel him to be 
above them. The intimacy which his discijples had with 
him for three years increased their reverence for him as a 
higher being. They saw that his mighty works before the 
people were but the quiet acting of his own nature, the 
revelation of his spiritual life. And so the feeling dawned 
upon his disciples that this was the Christ, the Son of God. 
This feeling grew to conviction in the minds of three of 
the disciples, who witnessed a scene that belongs to Jesus 
alone, and yet seems to have been only another natural 
1 Mark V. 11-17, xi. 20-26. 



260 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

expression of his true inner nature. Copies, eng^a^-ing8, 
and photographs have made every child familiar with 
Raphael's picture of the transfiguration, so wonderful in the 
expression of the countenance of Jesus, in the buoyancy of 
his figure in the cloud, and in the blending of the divine 
with the human through the scene of glory on the top of 
the mountain, and the scene of suffering and compassion at 
its base. Yet the transfiguration as described by the evan- 
gelists was something more lofty and more glorious far 
than *' the transfiguration '* as painted by Raphael. As a 
symbol of the whole life and work of Jesu^ the combining 
of heavenly glory, human misery, and healing mercy upon 
the same canvas, makes Raphael's picture truly mar^-ellous 
as a work of art ; but for the actual scene it looks too much 
as if Jesus in the cloud were set up on exhibition with a 
gaping crowd below. Now, in fact, the scene had no 
witnesses but the three disciples whom Jesus took with him 
** up into a high mountain apart by themselves.'* * This soli- 
taiincss is a feature of its majesty ; aud the narrative, as 
coming from these eye-witnesses, is so sublime in its 
simplicity that to touch it is to mar it. 

For this was not a dream, like Jacob's, where the foncy is 

at liberty to weave a ladder from earth to heaven, and to 

play about it A^th troops of angels. The disciples had 

been asleep ; * but what they describe took place afterwards. 

1 Mark ix. 2. • Luke iz. 32. 



THE TRANSriGTJRATIOlT. 261 

Perhaps the sudden light woke them ; and " when they were 
awake they saw his glory." ^ There was Jesus transfigured 
before them, his face shining like the sun, and his raiment 
white as the light,^ and glistering as snow.^ At his side 
were two men talking with him, who were made known to 
them as Moses and Elias.^ Peter, who always was forward 
to say something, as soon as the first amazement was over, 
in an ecstasy of joy at such glory and such company, said to 
Jesus, " Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make 
three tabernacles : one for thee, and one for Moses, and one 
for Elias." But, while he was speaking, a tent such as was 
never wrought by human hands — a cloud of glory — cov- 
ered them ; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, " This 
is my beloved Son : hear him." Overcome with fear, the 
disciples fell on their faces, and saw and heard no more till 
" Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not 
afi-aid." His dear, familiar voice re-assured them, and 
they lifted up their eyes; but the cloud had vanished. 
Moses and Elias were gone ; and they saw no man save 
Jesus alone. ^ 

In the whole scene, though the supernatural is blended 
with the natural, and heaven is brought down to earth, the 
connection of reality is never for one moment lost. At 
every point Jesus is still known to the disciples ; though 

1 Luke ix. 32. ^ Matt. xvii. 2. « Mai'k ix. 3. 
* Luke ix. 29. ^ Matt. xvii. 1-9. 



2G2 JESUS OF NAZABETH. 

" the fashion of his countenance is altered " by the bright- 
ness that beams from it, they never lose sight of him, nor 
mistake him for an angel. At the very height of the 
splendor, Peter addresses him as Master ; and when the 
cloud has vanished Jesus is there alone, looking just as he 
did when he had walked up the mountain with them. The 
person of Jesus was the link that bound heaven and earth 
together. Both worlds were alike natural to him ; Moses 
and Elias no more strangers than Peter, James, and John : 
the white and glittering raiment no more strange than his 
common peasant's dress ; and the voice that spoke from the 
cloud, and filled the disciples with terror, was just as real 
as the gentle tones of Jesus himself. Years after, Peter, in 
a letter to all believers, put this again on record, as he had 
before given it to Mark for his Gospel. *' We have not 
followed cunningly dodsed fables when we made known to 
you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but 
were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from 
God the Father honor and glory when there came such a 
voice to him from the excellent glory, Tliis is my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleaseiL And this voice which 
came from heaven we heanl when we were with him in the 
holy mount." * 

The real wonder of this scene lies in its moral meaning ; 
and it must bo interpreted by the time and tlie circimi- 

» 2 Pet, i. 10-13. 



THE TRANSFIGURATIOX. 263 

Stances in which it took place. Just as the disciples seemed 
to have broken through the mystery of their Master's being, 
and to have found him more than man, Jesus threw around 
himself another mystery too strange to be understood, too 
-ad to be believed. Peter, speaking for the rest, had said, 
" Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God ; " and 
Jesus not only admitted that he was the Christ, but said 
this had been directly revealed to Peter by his Father in 
heaven.' No doubt the disciples now began to look forward 
to his setting up the kingdom of Israel with the power and 
-plendor predicted by Ezekiel and Isaiah;- but, as far as 
ever from talking about earthly power and kingly glory, this 
''Son of the living God '' began to speak of himself as the 
'' Son of man," and to teach his disciples that he " must 
suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the 
( liief priests and scribes, and be killed." ^ This was a great 
hock to their feelings and their hopes. True, Jesus always 
added that on the third day he " should rise again." * But 
rither the disciples did not understand his meaning, or the 
thought that their Lord and King should suffer and die so 
oppressed them with disappointment and sadness that their 
liearts sank within them. So strong was this feeling in Peter 
that he broke out in a passionate remonstrance, " Be it far 
from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto theeT'^ but Jesus so 

1 Matt. xvi. 16-18. ^ jga. ix., xi., xl. ; Ezek. xxxvi., xxxvii. 

« Mark viii. 31. * Mark viii. 32. ^ Matt. xvi. 22. 



264 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

much the more gave to his disciples the sad and earnest view 
of his Ufe and his sei*vice, " If any man will come after me, 
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me/** 
Yet, along with the solemn warning that they should lose 
their lives for his sake, he foretold that " the Son of man 
sliall come in the glory of his Father, with, his angeb ; and 
then lie shall reward every man according to his works."* 
With such words and thoughts as famihar to us as any thing 
in the life of Jesus, and so clearly explained by all that 
followed, it is hard to realize how they puzzled and dis- 
tressed that little band of disciples. Every thing seemed 
to be involved in mystery and contradiction: on the one 
hand, power to raise the dead ; on the other, a weakness that 
would submit to suffer and to die : on the one hand, " the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven " given to the disciples ; on 
the other, the warning that they must " take up the cross," 
and be ready to lose their lives for their Master : on the one 
hand, he shall be killed ; on the other, he shall rise again: 
on the one hand, *' the Son of God," on the other, '* the 
Son of man." While they were yet puzzling over these 
strange and conflicting sayings, Jesus took the three disci- 
ples up into the mountain, and was transfigured before them. 
Then they saw how in him two natures, two beings, were 
united : how, in a moment, he could pass into the heavenly 
state, and shine with the brightness of the sun, and in the 
1 Matt. xvi. 24. « Matt xvi. 27. 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 265 

next moment be standing at their side with the familiar 
face of every day ; how the messengers of heaven came to 
honor and to serve him, and yet talked of his going to Jeru- 
salem to die; how the voice of the infinite and invisible 
Fatlier could startle them saying, *' This is my beloved Son : 
hear him," and in the next moment the familiar tones of 
Jesus could comfort them, sa3dng, "Arise, and be not afraid." 
Thus tlie transfiguration was the key to the mysteries that 
had gatliered about the life of Jesus, and that now over- 
shadowed it with the gloom of death. Midway between 
the lowliness of the manger and the cross rose this mount 
of liglit and glory to interpret and illumine both. 

And, while the transfiguration thus mediated between 
the divine and the human in the person of Christ, it set hiin 
forth as the Mediator between the Old Testament and the 
New. With him were disciples who were also chosen to be 
the apostles of his gospel ; and to this company, which rep- 
resented the Cliurcli of Christ, came Moses the lawgiver, 
and Elias the prophet, to show that their teachings and 
promises now centred in the Son of God, whom all must hear 
and obey. Elias had been carried up to heaven in a chariot 
of fire : and ]\loses had disappeared from men upon the top 
of Nebo : nothing of the pain or the weakness of death 
was associated with their memory. They were numbered 
with the immortals ; but here they appeared in the hkeness 
of men, so that they became known to the disciples as Moses 



266 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

and Elias ; they had the most lively and tender interest in 
the coming death of Jesus. And thus they showed how the 
past and the future in faith and in service, how saints in 
heaven and believers on earth, how the whole kingdom of 
God above and Ijelow, in time and for eternity, formed one 
sublime and perfect whole about the pers'on and the work 
of Jesus. 

As this wondrous vision v.-as the key to the nature and 
the mission of Jesus, revealing the union of the divine with 
the human, so does it present Jesus himself as the key 
to the higher life that is enshrined within our own mortahty. 
The faith that joins us to the life of Christ shall enable us 
to share his glory also : we sliall be like him, for we shall 
see him as he is. The Son of God and the Son of man, 
equally at home in heaven and on earth, passing and 
repassing from one world to the other, making heaven real 
to us as the home of his Father, and making this world dear 
to saints in heaven as the scene of his own life and death, 
Jesus takes away from us our natural nervous dread of the 
unseen, and helps us to see in death itself a transfiguration 
b}- which the soul passes into a cloud only to shine with 
the briQ^htness of the sun. And if at the last our sensitive 
natures should feel a shudder of dread at the very glory 
that ovei'shadows them, if \ac have obeyed the voice of 
the Son of God, then, too, shall the voice of the Son of 
man, full of human s}Tnpathy, re-assure us, saying, " Arise : 
be not afraid." 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 267 

Once, among the Alps, I seemed to see this heavenly 
vision, almost to hear this heavenly voice. Starting with 
the dawn for the summit of the Col des Fours, I had seen 
the great white dome of Mont Blanc ht up by the rising 
sun, while all the world beside still lay in shadow ; and, as I 
stood at a level with the Col de la Seigne, this ridge cut off 
every thing but that dome, which seemed spread out above 
it like a pavilion for angels, — so high, so pure, so glister- 
ing, so glorious ! I could not bear to turn away from 
the fascination of the view ; it seemed but a step to that 
pavilion of light, and from that but another step into the 
clear blue heaven above. 

When I reached the top of the pass, and turned toward 
the opposite side, there lay before me one sea of cloud, in 
which the highest peaks of the Tarantaise were swimming 
like islands of snow trimmed with borders of green. Far 
as the eye could reach, the clouds were rolling like billows, 
and breaking like spray upon the mountain tops. I stood 
between two heavens, — the heaven of blue above, so 
bright, so wide, so clear ; the heaven of cloud beneath, so 
vast, so deep, so dark, hiding the earth in its folds, yet on 
its surface flashing as with the brightness of a thousand 
suns. At length the mist rose up and covered me, so that I 
was wrapped in darkness. I could no longer see my way, 
could hardly see the ground on which I stood. I only knew 
there was a precipice near by, and an abyss of gloom below ; 



268 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

and " I feared as I entered into the cloud." Suddenly the 
sun, which had never ceased to shine, turned his whole 
brightness direct on me, not scattering the cloud, but 
making this luminous with a light too dazzling for the eye. 
I seemed compassed about with gloiy ; and from that glory 
came a voice speaking what no man can utter, to the won- 
dering, waiting soul. I went on my way rejoicing, and was 
no more afraid. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE FEIENDS OF JESUS. 

Yes, this '' Son of God " was indeed the " Son of man," 
— so human in his sympathy and love, in all that is noblest, 
finest, best in humanity, as no other man has ever been. 
Not for effect upon their senses or their imagination, nor 
to inspire their homage for himself, but for their assurance 
under present grief and their consolation after his death, 
had Jesus given his disciples the vision of his divine glory 
upon the mount. And, when the vision was over, he would 
not suffer the witnesses to make a sensation by reporting 
it ; but " he charged them that they should tell no man what 
things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from 
the dead." ^ And he whom all men should hear and obey 
as the Son of God, the prophet greater than Elias, the law- 
giver greater than Moses, came down from the splendor of 
his Father's presence, from hearing his Father's voice, 
to plunge again into the sorrows and miseries of men, to 
listen to the cry of a poor stranger for mercy on his son, 

1 Mark ix. 9. 



2T0 



JESUS OF NAZARET! 



'* Lord, I believe : help thou mine unbelief/* and to 
out a demon from his wretched lunatic boy.' And the next 
we read of him, he is giving his di^riples a lesson of 
humility by setting before them a little child as their 
teacher and example.' 

Now, this gentle, loving man, who was the friend of every- 
body, himself hod need of friends; and he found fiii 
though they were few, and most of them could do little 
more than give him their love. But not all his disciples 
were poor. Matthew the tax-gatherer was rich enough to 
have a house of his own, and to give a ^ great feast** ii 
honor of Jesus;* and, among the women whom he had 
*' healed of evil spirits and infinuities,** some who followed 
him in his journeys were able to *' minister to him of their 
substance.** ^ Among these was Mar)* Magdalene, who had 
means freely to show her gratitude, and could lavish a costlj 
box of ointment upon the head of her deliverer; and 
Joanna, whose husband held a lucrative post as the steward 
of King Herod. Some men of wealth and influence, such as 
Nicotlemus, and Joseph of Arimathea, were also friendly to 
Jesus ; and, though they were kept back by caution from 
joining his disciples at the first, they did come out openly 
upon his side when there was the greatest risk in doing so.* 
The spices that embalmed his body, the linen in which it 



1 Mark ix. 14-29. « Mark ix. 33-37. • Luke T. S9. 

* Luke viii. 2. a. » Joba vii. 50 ; xix. 88-42. 




He set a Little Child in the Midst of them. 



THE FRIENDS OF JESUS. 271 

was wrapped, the new sepulchre in which it was laid, were 
all provided by these rich and noble friends. 

But there was one family, consisting of a brother and two 
sisters, in which Jesus had truly a home, — his favorite 
resort for rest and refreshment during his visits to Jeru- 
salem. Facing the city from the east, and rising some two 
hundred feet above its level, is the Mount of Olives, between 
which and the Temple Mount is the narrow and steep ravine 
of the Kedron, through which, in the rainy season, the brook 
still flows. From the summit of the Mount of Olives, in 
going to the east, one descends at first into a sort of basin, 
then mounts a second ridge more or less wooded, and from 
this descends again into another hollow, or plateau, which 
is planted with oaks, olives, almonds, and pomegranates. 
Here the path over the summit falls into the broader path 
or road which winds over the southern shoulder of the 
mountain, and now drops suddenly down the steep descent 
to Jericho. From this high plateau one looks into the deep 
valley of the Jordan, and over to the mountains of Moab, 
which stand like a rampart on the other side. Here, on the 
verge of desolation, the very outpost of human habitations, 
overhanging the dreary wilderness of Judea, yet snugly 
sheltered from the northern and western winds, and feeling 
the tropical warmth of the valley below, was perched the 
village of Bethany, — once embosomed in palm-trees, and 
hence called " the House of Dates." And here it was that 



272 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

Jesus loved to go after he had been teaching in the temple, 
liad been disputing with the scribes and Pharisees, or per- 
haps had met a rough and angiy mob. The first mention 
of Bethany introduces us to the two sisters of the family, 
— Martha the housekeeper, and Mary the learner. " He 
entered into a certain village ; and a certain woman, named 
Martha, received him into her house. And she had a sister 
called Mary, which also sat at Jesus* feet, and heard hb 
word." * The elder of these sisters was an active, bustling, 
earnest woman, whose pride was in her housekeeping and 
her hospitality. She was what nowada\-8 would be called 
" a strong character," having a will and a way of her own, 
and wishing to have those around her conform to her 
notions of what was proper. But this natural temperament 
shows itself in a devotion to Jesus no less real and sincere 
than that of her moro quiet and docile sister. At a time 
when there was much dissension about Jesus^ when the 
scribes and Pharisees were stirring up the people against 
lum, and to be upon his side was far from popular, then 
Martha gladly opened her house, and served him with the 
best that she had, — served him so eagerly as to be almost 
oflicituis, thrusting her household cares upon the notice 
of her guest, and yet honoring him no less than did the 
sister who sat at his feet, and hx>ked up into his eyes that 
she might catch his every wonl into her soul. With her 

» Luke X. 3S, 39. 



THE FRIENDS OF JESUS. 



whole soul, Martha sought to comfort and refresh the body 
of her much-loved guest ; wliile Mary's love forgot that he 
had a body, m her eagerness to feed her own soul from his 
lips. With such a servant and such a disciple, Jesus found 
that little cottage at Bethany a welcome home; and the 
master of the house shared his confidence and affection. 
*' Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." The 
message of the sisters, " Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick," 
shows how Jesus had taken this family to his heart ; and, 
when he stood weeping and gioaning by the grave of 
Lazarus, even the neighbors said, " Behold how he loved 
him ! " 

The death of Lazarus brought out the love of Jesus in all 
its strength and tenderness, and also brought out again the 
traits of the two sisters as strongly as when Jesus first 
visited at their house. The moment Lazarus seemed in 
danger, his sisters hurried a messenger to Jesus, feeling sure 
that he would save their brother's life. And when all 
was over, and Lazarus was in his grave, though Jesus 
came too late for their help, both shoAved the same confi- 
dence in his power and love, the same faith mingling 
with their grief; and, as each met him in turn, her heart 
told all its love, and all its trust, and all its loss, in the 
cry, " Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not 
died ! " Yet, even in this common sorrow, Martha is 
Martha, and Mary is Mary. They were sitting together 



274 JESU8 OF NAZARETH. 

in the house, with fiiencU who had oome from Jeru- 
salem to comfort them, when word was brought tliat 
Jesus was coming. As soon as she heard this, Martha 
sprang up, and hurried out to meet him before he had 
entered the town. There she began at once to give her 
belief of what Jesus could have done, and even yet could 
do, talking in her quick, positive way of the resurrection, 
as if she knew all that Jesus could tell her. Tet she 
declared her belief in him as **the Christ, the Son of God." 
Martha was not wanting in the religious spirit ; she was not 
at all worldly ; her faith was as strong as Mary*s; perhaps 
she went beyond Mary in the feeling that it was not too 
late for Jesus to help them. But her temperament pushed 
her forward ; and even when they stood at the grave, and 
Jesus, groaning in himself, stiid, ** Take ye away the stone," 
she could not help meddling, and remonstrating against 
opening the tomb after four days. 

^lary, always meek and pensive, when she heard that 
Jesus was coming, "sat still in the house.*' Her heart was 
too full for such a meeting ; and she could only wait in 
reverent silence till Jesus should appear. But, when Jesus 
sent for her, she hastened to him, and, with one cry from her 
bursting heart, she fell down at his feet, and wept. At the 
<xrave she has nothing to say ; but when all the excitement 
of that wondrous day is over, and she is sitting again at 
evening in the house with I.»azaras beside her, and 
before her, — 




MaKV hath rilOSEN THE fioOD PAI?T 



THE FRIENDS OF JESUS. 275 



" Her eyes are homes of silent prayer; 
Nor other thought lier mind admits, 
But ' he was dead, and there he sits, 
And He that brought hhn back is there,^ 

Then one deep love doth supersede 
All other, when her ardent gaze 
Roves from the living brother's face, 

And rests upon the Life indeed." 

Some time after, we are once more admitted to this family 
circle at Bethany, when a supper was made for Jesus and 
his disciples. And here, again, while Lazarus sat at the 
table, '' Martha served," looking after the comfort of the 
guests ; but Mary, overflowing with gratitude to her 
brother's Saviour and her own, having provided a box of 
the most fragrant and precious ointment, forgetting every 
one in her love for him, stole gently behind the couch 
where Jesus was reclining at the table, and, kneeling before 
them all, *' anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet 
with her hair." ^ In this little circle of domestic quiet 
aud affection, Jesus spent the last evenings of his life ; 
going in the morning to Jerusalem, there teaching, warning, 
prophesying, and toward evening taking the lovely walk 
over the Kedron and the Mount of Olives to this home of 
peace. Here he could rest from toil and care ; could hide 

1 John xii. 1-3. 



276 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

himself from the malice of his enemies ; could brace himself 
in the fresh, free air of the mountains ; could commune in 
solitude with Nature and with his Father; and, Icpoking out 
over the wilderness of his temptation, could gather 
strength for his coming conflicts bj the memory of his vic- 
tory there. 

We could never have felt how human, how loving, liow 
with and of ourselves, Jesus was, had we not seen him in 
the bosom of the family of Bethany, seeking and finding 
the sheltering love of an earthly home. And we should have 
missed the purest, fondest link that binds him to our nature, 
that marks him as man complete in his humanity, had we 
not seen him needing and receiving the gentle, hxAj^ 
devoted love and trust of woman. Without this Jesus 
would have seemed to us more like an angel than a man ; or, 
at least, like some being apart and distinct from our race, 
too lofty for us to comprehend him, too distant for us to 
know him. But, with the Mary at Bethlehem, and the Mary 
at Bethany, and the Mar\*s at the cross and at the sepulchre, 
his life begins and closes with what to every earthly life at 
its beginning and its ending is nearest and dearest, — the 
sacred passion of woman's love. 

Yet while he is thus identified with us in his need and 
his experience of earthly friendships, he has taught us that 
they who are nearest to him in the service of his Father are 
nearest to him also in the ties of lov'v T* -^--^ i^^ ^^^- 



THE FEIENDS OF JESUS. 



277 



family; "for whosoever shall do the will of my Father 

which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister 

and mother." ^ 

1 Matt, xu. 50. 



HH^ayH 



CHAPTER XXX. 



THE LvVST jr>i i!VFV 



For three years Jesus had now been before the public as 
a teaclier ; and his name was known in every village and 
every home of Palestine. lie had gone over a good part of 
the land on foot with his disciples, and wherever he baited 
had talked of the kingdom of heaven, either in the 8>-na- 
gogue or by the wayside, so that tliousands upon thousands 
had seen his face and heard his voice. Besides these 
preaching-tours in the country, he had gone to Jerusalem 
once or twice a year at the great festivals, and at such times 
had been seen and heard by the throngs then gathered from 
all parts of Palestine, and from other lands, wherever the 
Jews were scattered abroad. By birth a Jew, Jesua was in 
heart and life a patriot; and he gave his time and labors 
first of all and most of all to Lis countrymen, seeking to 
refonn their religion and their lives, and so to save them 
from the judgments that sooner or later come upon nations 
that forsake truth, justice, and virtue. *'0 Jerusalem. 
Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that 



1^ if |^!pMWWlH ^f^pillpif 



8 
3 

i 

M 

H 
S 
» 

3 




^Siiiiiiiiiiiiiii 



THE LAST JOURNEY. 279 

are sent unto thee ! how often would I have gathered thy 
children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her 
wings, and ye would not ! " The earnestness of his warn- 
ings showed the tenderness of his love. 

Only twice did Jesus go over the bordei-s of the land 
of Israel, and this, to teach his disciples that, though his 
mission was first to the Jews, his gospel was for man, and 
should be preached to all nations alike. Once he went into 
the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, the land of the Pluenicians, 
who were idolaters , and while there he heard the cry of a 
poor Pagan mother for *' the crumbs from the Master's 
table , " he healed her daughter, and taught that faith had 
the same power, and love had the same pity, for the heathen 
and the Jew. 

Again, he went into the region of Cesarea Pliilippi, by 
Mount Hermon, away to the north of Lake Tiberias, where 
was a mixed population of Phoenicians, Syrians, Greeks, and 
Jews. Here was a world in miniature, — a type of his work, 
— so many races and religions to be subdued to one brother- 
hood and one faith; so much of the splendor of art, of 
luxury, and of power, to array the kingdom of Mammon 
against the kingdom of God ; and yet, around and above all 
this, so much of beauty, of bounty, and of grandeur in 
nature, to comfort his soul with the love and the majesty 
of his Father. It was in this region, as we have seen, — 
probably upon one of the summits of Mount Hermon, 



280 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



— that Jesus was transfigured ; and it was on one of 
these neighboring plains, after his disciples Lad • tried 
in vain to cast out a devil, that he cured the lunatic 
boj ; and then, pointing to Hermon, said to them, ** If 
ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed/* if your spiiit 
has the tiniest hold upon the power of God, like that of a 
little child upon the arm of his father, *' ye shall say unto 
this mountain," this mighty mass of earth and rock, of 
forest and snow, that lifts itself ten thou>and feet above the 
sea, " ye shall say to this, Remove hence to yonder place ; 
and it shall remove ; and nothing shall be imiKWsible unto 
you." These sublime scenes of nature, suggesting the fresh, 
living, unwasted power of God, were made more sublime by 
this association ^^ ith the faith, the grace, and the glorj' of 
the Son of man. Indeed, the chief interest, to ns, of the 
region of Cesarea Philippi, lies in the fact that Jesus was 
there. But we will try to look upon it with his eyes. 

From the westward ridge of the great Hermon, two wild, 
deep gorges that seem to cleave the mountain to its base, 
one opening to the north, the other to the south, come out 
upon a broad, fertile terrace, here built by nature between 
the mountain and the plain ; and, at the north-eastern edge 
of this, a third ravine forms an angle where a bold chff of 
limestone stands up like a natural fortress. From a dark 
cavern at the base of this cliff, a volume of piu^ and spSLtk- 
ling water gushes forth, and, tumbUng swifUy down the 



THE LAST JOURNEY. 281 

rocky ravine, goes to join other streams that form the River 
Jordan. Hardly any point in Syria combines so many fea- 
tures of beauty within so small a compass, — the well- 
watered terrace with its carpet of green, kept fresh by the 
dews of Hermon ; the groves of olives and of terebinths, 
the clusters of hawthorn and myrtle, the bright oleanders 
set round with wreaths of ferns, the deep, wild ravines, the 
rushing waters filling the air with the music of their fall ; 
in the foreground, a broad plain checkered with clumps of 
trees and fields of grain, and threaded with silvery streams ; 
in the background, the giant summits that rise from five 
thousand to eight thousand feet above the teiTace, the 
lower ridges clothed with forests, the great central dome 
capped with snow. Here, among these groves and grottos, 
the Phoenicians had set up the worship of Baal ; here, at this 
very cave of the fountain, the Greeks built a temple to Pan, 
the god of the woods and streams, and named the place 
Panium, or Panias. Here Herod the Great had his first 
capital, when he was governor of this part of Syria, before 
he made himself master of Jerusalem ; and here he built a 
fine marble temple in honor of the Emperor Augustus. 
When the kingdom of Herod was divided, his son Philip 
had the region north-east of Lake Tiberias as his portion, 
and he made Panias his capital, but changed its name to 
Cesarea in honor of the emperor ; and then added his own 
name, Cesarea Pliillppi^ to distinguish this from the city of 



282 JE8U8 OF NAZARETH. 

Cesarea on the seacoast. After the death of Pliilip, its 
name was changed to Neronias^ as a compliment ta Nero ; 
then it passed into Cesarea Panias ; and now for a long tiine 
it has been known only as Banias. This bit of history and 
geography comes in here to witness how fully the Gospels 
are to be depended on for truth and accuracy even in little 
things. In the three thousand years since Panias was built, 
there was but one single period of fifty years in which it 
was called Cesarea Philippic and it gave this name to a 
district. The life of Jesus fell within this period; and 
Matthew and Mark, in describing one of his preacbing-toars, 
speak of his going to Cesarea Philippi, using for Panias the 
name which had been given only thirty years before, and 
which twenty years later had ceased to be used. 

In the region of that famous and splendid capital of the 
north, Jesus proclamied to men of mixed nations and beliefs 
his gospel as the word of truth and the way of life. There, 
too, he told his disciples how they must suffer and die, 
while at the same time he declared that Peter's confession 
of him as "the Clirist, the Son of God," should be the *•- ■ k 
on Avhich his church should stand till the end of time.* 

Yes ; he must suffer and die. To this strange end this 

ministry of trutli and love at last must come. The rulers, 

finding they could make nothing of Jesus for themselves, 

were fully set against him : and his preaching maddened 

1 Matt xTi. 18, 



THE LAST JOURNEY. 283 

them more and more. Among the people many followed 
him with a sort of blind faith, because of the wonders he 
did, just as a crowd will always run after any thing new 
and strange ; some clung to him with a true and earnest 
faith in his words ; while perhaps tlie greater number were 
in a state of uncertainty, now ready to think that this doer 
of wonders must be the Christ, and again vexed that he did 
not show himself as their king, and help tliem in their 
troubles. The raising of Lazarus brought matters to a 
crisis. We should think that such a miracle must have led 
all who heaitl of it to believe on Jesus ; and it did increase 
the number both of true believei-s and of curious followers. 
But it roused his enemies to a furious hatred ; for they saw 
that their day was over if Jesus should draw the people by 
such works as these. '*If we let him alone," said they, "all 
men will believe on liim ; " ^ and from that day " they took 
counsel together to put him to death." 

At first Jesus shunned them. Not that he feared to die : 
he expected to be put to death, and was ready to deliver 
himself whenever his time should come; but he had yet 
other things to say to his disciples and to the people ; above 
all, to instruct liis friends as to the meaning of his death, 
and the coming of his kingdom. And so he left for a while 
these stormy scenes at Jerusalem, and betook himself to the 
north, skirting the wilderness that borders upon tbe Jordan. 

1 John xi. 48-63. 



284 JESUS OF NAZAKETH. 



He no longer had a home. Nazareth had cast him out, and 
he had turned away in discouragement from Capernaum. 
He had not where to lay his head. But, as he journeyed, a 
quiet little city of Ephraim, east of Bethel, about sixteen 
miles from the capital, seems to have offered him rest and 
safety; and '* there he continued with his disciples.'* * 

But his enemies would soon track him to this retrea; . . 

so he again crossed the Jordan to ** the region beyond,** or 
Perea, tlie ancient Gilead, the home of the tribes of Reuben 
and Dan. This fine rolling country, now occupied only by 
roving Bedouins, was then well peopled with towns and 
villages, the ruins of which are still to be seen. It was 
famous for its forests, its herds, and its flocks, and afforded 
the best pasture -land of Palestine. In this rural i^on, 
Jesus escaped from the jealousies and conspiracies of the 
metropolis ; but he was now a character of too much noto- 
riety to escape from the people, even had he wished to do 
so. '' Great multitudes followed him ; and, as he was wont, 
he taught them again.*' ^ Indeed, he made such a mission- 
ary tour in Perea, as he had made before in Galilee ; and 
went '* through the cities and villages, teaching, and jour- 
neying toward Jerusalem." 3 Jug^ at this time, too, the 
caravans were starting for the passover; and Jesus was 
attended by eager, listening crowds all along the way. To 
this last preaching tour, we owe many of his most l»eautiful 

1 John xi. 5i. a ^^^tt. xix. 1. -J ; Mark x. 1. • Luke xiU. 22. 



\ 




THE LAST JOURNEY. 285 



parables, but especially the deeper insight into his life and 
death which he gave to his disciples, when he took them 
apart for more personal instruction. 

The tone of his preaching was both tender and severe, as 
from a man who felt how in his own person the truth and 
grace of his Father had been sHghted and abused, who 
knew the great crime that the rehgious teachers of the 
nation were then plotting against him, who knew the woes 
that must come upon the peojjle for their sins, who felt for 
tlieni the anguish and the dread of the judgment of the 
last da}', and who in his yearning for their salvation was 
ready to sacrifice his life. How full of this tender yearning 
i> the parable of the prodigal son, the parable of the great 
supper, the parable of the praying widow, and that of the 
humble publican! How in these parables the soul of Jesus 
melts with compassion for the poor, the maimed, the lame, 
the blind, the hungry and homeless in the streets and lanes 
of the city ; for the widow and the fatherless, neglected and 
wronged ; for the sinner, humbled, penitent, praying, return- 
ing! How his soul yearns over the rich, noble, and amiable 
young man who seems to have every thing, yet lacks one 
tiling, and will not do that one thing which would bring 
heaven to his soul here, and would find him " treasure in 
heaven '' ^ hereafter. How compassionately he lays his 
hands on the woman bowed with infirmity, and takes the 

1 Mark x. 17-22. 



286 • JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

part of the poor and suffering against the proud and scorn- 
ful ! How gently, lovingly, he takes little children in hb 
arms, vexed that his own disciples had pushed back the 
mothers with their bal>es ! — for Jesus could show anger 
against meanness and injustice done to the weak and the 
innocent. Yet how tender is he of the faulU of his disci- 
ples toward himself, teaching by his example to forgive 
seven times in a day ; ' and how considerate and generous 
to those who even at the eleventh hour would enter upon 
his service I' 

Such are the strains of tender, melting love that are 
wafted to us from beyond the Jordan, as Jesus joumejrs 
toward Jerusalem, the " Man of Sorrows," bearing upon 
himself our sicknesses and infirmities. With this tender- 
ness come also notes of severity, — reproof and warning in 
the parable of Dives and Lazarus, in the picture of the 
coming of the Son of man, and of the last judgment: 
"Strive to enter in at the strait gate;"' ** Many that are 
first shall be last, and the last first ; " " One shall be taken, 
aiul the other left." Yet thb very earnestness of warning 
shows the intensity of love ; and, through all, we hear the 
deep, solemn, pathetic undertone of wailing over the fate of 
his enemies : " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the 
prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee ! " and 

1 Luke xrii. 3, 4. « Matt xi. &-16. 

» Luke xiii. 2A ; Matt xii. 30 ; Luke xrii. 34. 



i 



THE LAST JOUKNEY. 287 



now at the last moment he would save her, and " would 
gather her children together," though for this he should 
stretch out his arms upon the cross. That cross was con- 
stantly before him ; and, apart from any sacrificial purpose or 
redemptive power in his cross, the moral heroism with which 
he went forward to meet it lifts him as far above all other 
heroes and martyrs of the race, as the cross itself is lifted 
above all other symbols of a sublime ideal triumphing in 
death. Knowing what shall befall him at Jerusalem; fore- 
seeing all the shameful, brutal aggravations of his sufferings 
and death, — how he shall be betrayed by one of his disci- 
ples unto the chief priests and the scribes; how these 
religious teachers and leaders of God's chosen people shall 
condemn him, as the Son of God, to death ; how this sacred 
tribunal of his own nation shall deliver him to the Gentiles, 
to a Pagan governor and his insolent foreign guard ; how 
they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit 
upon him, and shall kill him, — knowing and feeling the 
shame and the pain of this great agony, he calmly tells it 
all to his disciples, not to relieve his sorrow, but to comfort 

theirs. 

" Thou wilt feel all, that thou mayest pity all ! 

So to the end, though now of mortal pangs 

Made heir, — with unaverted eye 

Thou meetest all the storm." 

Yet in the moment of a heroism so self-denying, so 



288 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

sublime, his own disciples step in to wrest some selfish 
worldly advantage from his very sacrifice. Passing over tlie 
sorrows to come upon him, they seize upon the assarance 
that lie shall rise again ; and, coupling this with their old 
notions of the Messiah, James and John put up their 
mother to ask for them the first places of honor in his 
triumph : *•' Grant that these my two sous may sit, the one 
at thy right hand, and the other on the left^ in thy king- 
dom." » 

All the pity and all the patience of Jesus came out in 
his reply. He will not suffer their mean amhition to be 
rebuked by the meaner jealousy of their bretliren; but, 
gently reminding them of the cup of sorrow and the bap- 
tism of suffering, he seeks once more to lift them out of the 
Bordidness of the flesh into the purity of the spirit, out of 
the greed of selfishness into the glory of sacrifice : " Wlio- 
soever will be great among you, let him be your minister ; 
and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your 
servant : even as the Son of man came not to be minis- 
tered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for 
many." ^ 

He came to minister ; and as he goes onward to meet hb 
own cross, though the thronging muliitudi^ would make 
his way a triumphal march, he is at the call of everybody's 
need, bearing everybody's cross, healing, comforting, minis- 

1 Matt XX. 21. < Mutt xz. Se-^S. 




lli.ivn HARTHiKrs 



THE LAST JOURNEY. 289 



tering. He passes by none because they are poor, friendless, 
and unknown : all the more does he minister to such as can- 
not minister to him nor to themselves. Just without the 
gate of Jericho, two blind men are sitting by the wayside, 
begging alms of the passers-by. They hear the unwonted 
tumult, the tramp of a thousand feet, the shouting of a 
thousand voices, the crowds from the city hurrying out to 
meet the crowds from the fords of the river, — all eager to 
hear or see what Jesus may say or do. The sound draws 
nearer, grows more distinct ; the quickened ears of the 
blind men hear that Jesus is passing by; and they cry, 
" Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David ! " But 
crowds have no pity: every man is pushing for himself, 
wishes every thing for himself, and hates to have any thing 
come in the way of his seeing or getting whatever is to be 
seen or had ; and so the multitude tell the blind men to be 
still, push them aside, angry that they will not hold their 
peace ; but they cry and cry the more, till above all the 
tramping and the shouting rings that piercing wail, — 
'' Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us I " No man cares 
for them ; no man offers to lead them. But Jesus stands 
still, and calls them. Springing up, they stagger forward, 
reaching out their arms to feel or make a way through the 
crowd, lifting up their sightless balls to where the voice of 
mercy is, " What will ye that I shall do unto you?" This 
Son of David, who might make himself king, puts himself 



290 JESUS OF NAZA&£TH. 

at their bidding, as the servant of alL ** Lord, that our 
eyes may be opened,*' is the cry of their yet blind but 
earnest faith ; and Jesus ^^ has compassion on them, touches 
their eyes ; and immediately their eyes receive sight.** He, 
whom these bands of excited men would make their chief, 
shuts his ears to their huzzas, but hean the cry of human 
need, and stops to minister to blind, ragged beggars on the 
wayside. 

A little farther on, near the town, a sycamore-tree spread 
its wide, tliick branches across the way, just as one sees this 
same tree in Palestine before every village, by the fountain, 
or at a fork of the road. As Jesus passes under the tree, he 
looks up, and sees a man lodged in its branches, eagerly 
watching his approach. This man is no beggar, and he 
utters no cry. A tax-gatherer, he has made himself rich by 
serving the oppressors of his nation, and by cheating his 
countrymen. He is as much deq>ised as any b^gar, and is 
more to be pitied than the blind men who sit at the city gate 
for alms; for his soul is blind and l)eggareil. He is '*a pub- 
lican and a sinner.'* But to-day his conscience is awake, and 
he feels the stirring of a new fiiiih and life within him. Not 
ashamed to face the crowd who might hoot him down, in 
his eagerness to see Jesus, he climbs the tree, because he b 
little of stature. Jesus, ever ready to seize upon the first 
sign of penitence or faith, says to him, *' Zaccheus, make 
haste, and come down; for to-day I must abide at thy 




Zaccheus. 



THE LAST JOUEKEY. 291 



house." And now the fickle crowd are ready to murmur 
against their chief, because he will accept the hospitality of 
such a sinner ; but ''the Son of man is come to seek and to 
save that which was lost." More precious than sight to the 
eye is salvation to the soul. The rich sinner repents, makes 
fourfold restoration, gives half of what remains to the poor, 
and rejoices that salvation has come to his house. 

With these conspicuous examples of healing mercy and 
of saving grace as types of his mission, Jesus warns his 
followers that no such kingdom of God as they are looking 
for is about to appear ; that he is to be taken from them, 
but they shall remain in trust as his servants ; that faith is 
the key to position in his Idngdom, and fidelity the key to 
its rewards. And so, with death distinctly before him, but 
scattering life along his way, '' he goes before, ascending up 
to Jerusalem." From the heights of Bethany, Lazarus, 
Martha, and Mary watch far down the hill the coming of 
tlieir friend and Lord, their hearts bounding with joy that 
tliey are so soon to welcome him ; then sinking with dread, 
lest they should welcome him to danger, perhaps to 
death. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST. 

Sometimes it is given i - .i man lo be thought worthy of 
the higliest places of honor and of power, to have his name 
coupled with distinctions that most men covet, to have 
these thrust upon him by the voice of the people ; and yet 
to show his greatness by declining office and fame, and 
giving himself to a simple, patient life of goodneaa. But it 
is in the nature of men, and especially in Uie fickle multi- 
tude, to resent the magnanimity that refuses to be honored 
in their way. Are not thrones, titles, riches, power, fame, 
the highest prizes the world has to bestow? And is not the 
offer of these, the suggestion of them even, the highest 
compliment that men can render to one whom they admire 
and follow ? If, then, he cares notliing for these things, he 
wounds their pride ; and if he not only thrusts aside the 
honors they would force upon him, but at the same time 
tells them he has higher and better things to give than they 
have to offer, that they yet need to learn of him the first 
ideas of honor, riches, power, then he wounds also their 



HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST. 293 



vanity, he turns their love to hate, their huzzas to hootings. 
When the people praise a leader, they flatter themselves in 
choosing him or in having him; they cover themselves 
with the odor of the incense that they burn to their idol ; 
and they will soon dethrone an idol who will not regard 
their homage, nor accept their offerings, much more if he 
shall reprove his worshippers. 

This trait of human nature is the key to the strange, 
sudden contrasts in the treatment of Jesus, that were 
crowded into the last six days of his life. It was the scene 
in the synagogue at Nazareth, repeated on the scale of the 
whole nation, and coming to the tragic end of which that 
had failed. It was the story of Capernaum over again, 
when, after he had fed five thousand from a few loaves and 
fishes, the people were ready to " take him by force, and 
make him a king ; " but when he took himself away, and 
then came back and reproved them for seeking the loaves, 
and pointed to himself as the true bread of heaven, they 
demanded *' a sign ; " they sneered at him as Joseph's son ; 
they turned back, and walked no more with him. It was the 
contrast of his whole life, accordinglj' as he seemed to meet 
or to thwart, the notions of the people as to what he was, 
or should become. A king they wanted, and a king must 
Jesus be. 

On the morning after the arrival of Jesus at Bethany, the 
whole town was astir, and the road to Jerusalem was alive 
with people. 



294 JESUS OF NAZARETH 



" From every house the neighbors met; 

The streets were filled with joyful soond; 
A solemn gladness even crowned 
The \>un>hi brows of Olivet.** 

Though it was yet six days before the PassoTer, many 
caravans from the country had already arrived for the feast ; 
and the crowd promised to be greater than usual, because 
everybody would be eager to see and hear the prophet who 
a few raontlui before, at the festivals of the tabernacles and 
the dedication,^ had done so many wonders, and had raised 
sucli a tumult that his life was in danger. At every new 
arrival tlie first question was, "Where is Jesus?" and, as 
he had not yet l>een seen in the temple, there was a lively 
discussion as to the chances of his coming at all. ** What 
think ye, that he will not come to the feast ? " * 

But, though he should not appear, Lazarus might be seen ; 
and he was almost as great a wonder as Jesus himself. The 
caravans coming up from the Jordan halted by Bethany, to 
catch a sight of the man who had been raised from the 
dead. Crowds came over every day from Jerusalem for the 
same purpose ; and it was evident that the people eared 

^ The Feast of Tabernacles occurred after all the fruits had been 
gathered in ; correspondinij with our October. The Feast of Dedication 
was in niid-wint^r: the Passover was in April or May, just before the 

fii*st harvesting; tho Pont<^^^st in .Tm..^ aft, r t}ie com-hanrest and before 
the N-intagc, 




Jesus i.EAvrsG Bethant. 



HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST. 295 

more about the Nazarene and his doings than for all the 
scribes and doctors of the temple. This so enraged the 
chief priests that " they consulted that they might put 
Lazarus also to death ; because that by reason of him many 
of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus." ^ 

As soon as it was known in Jerusalem that Jesus was at 
the house of Lazarus, the whole city poured out to meet 
him. Down the side of the temple-hill, across the bed of 
the Kedron, up the side of Olivet, swarmed the people, 
running, shouting, singing, — men, women, and children 
pressing on to Bethany. But on the way they met the 
surges of another crowd ; for Jesus had already started for 
the city, with all Bethany, and the eastern caravans behind 
him. At this moment the disciples brought up an ass's colt; 
and, spreading their garments over its back, they seated 
Jesus upon it to lead him to Jerusalem in triumph. For 
now, at the last, Jesus would appear as the Messiah, the 
King of the Jews. He would show the people that they 
had not read the prophets in vain, had not looked in vain 
for a deliverer ; he would fulfil in his own person the predic- 
tion of their scriptures, and would then fulfil in a far higher 
sense their own expectation of a Saviour. Yielding to their 
enthusiasm, seizing upon the time and the circumstances 
which would make his action most conspicuous, significant, 
and memorable, he would make a public entry into the capi- 

1 John xii. 9-11. 



296 JE8US OF KAZABETH. 

tal, like a prince going to be crowned ; and by thi« $ynd>ol 
he would say to the daughter of Zion, ^* Behold, thy King 
comcth unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an asi>, and a coltt 
the foid of on ass/' * But in the very height of this popuUr 
eiithubiasm, in this supreme moment of apparent ro^ndtjr 
and victory, ho would show the grandeur of his kingdom 
by refusing to use his power upon his euemica, by bearing 
only symbols of meekness and peace, and sjieaking only 
words of gentleness and sorrow. 

There was notliing degrading in his riding uiK>n an ass, 
which was a common beast of travel in Palf??tinc. Abra- 
ham and Jacob had travelled in this wa\ iie time of 
the judges, the governors of Israel rode ** on white •aea,*' 
and the young princes luui each an aaa** colt.' Il wpuld 
not have been unbecoming for Jesus, even as a king, to 
liuvo made his entry into Jerusalem \ipon sui .u»t« 
especially as the procession was extemporized and uti foot ; 
but he sent for tlio ass s colt, and rode it, as a sign of the 
sinipHcity and the pcaceableness of his kingdom. He came 
nut as the conqueror with worldly pomp and display, but as 
the Saviour, meek and lowly of heart. But t^ ■ •- ••^" 
would have him king, whether he would, or no. 

The Orientiils have a touch of fanaticism in their nature. 
These sedate, solemn-looking men, who move about so leis^ 
urely iu their long robes and turbans, and seem too stupid 
i Zech. ix. 9. < Judg. t. 10, xiL 14. 



HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST. 297 



for any excitement, can be worked up to a frenzy, especially 
when a strong religious impulse seizes on them. Then their 
loud outcries, their violent gestures, their noisy excesses of 
every sort, would make a Western crowd appear quite tame. 
So on this morning upon the Mount of Olives the multi- 
tudes gave loose to the wildest excitement, caused both by 
religious fervor and by political liopes. At last, at last! 
they had their Messiah. He had cast out devils, had raised 
the dead, and could do any thing. He was not afraid of the 
Pharisees ; for, though lie knew they were seeking his life, he 
was going openly to Jerusalem. And he was willing now 
to go as a king, to ride before the people, and let them 
honor and praise him. No doubt at Jerusalem he would do 
some wondrous sign. God was with him, and would help 
him ; he would declare himself the Messiah, would take the 
throne of David ; and the kmgdom of God should immedi- 
ately appear.* Fired with such feelings, wrought up to the 
highest pitch of enthusiasm for their nation and their 
religion now to be dehvered, a great multitude ran before 
Jesus, and spread their garments in the way as a carpet for 
him to ride over. Others leaped up to the palm-trees that 
lined the road, and stripped them of their branches, and laid 
these in the way ; and, as with one voice, the thousands 
upon thousands made the hills and woods ring with the 
shout, " Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed is he that 

^ Luke xix. 11. 



298 JESUS OF NAZABETH. 

coraeth in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King 
of Israel, that cometh in the name of the Lord ! Hosanna 
in the highest ! *' 

In vain did the Pharisees try to hush this cry ; and, when 
they appealed to Jesus to rebuke his disciples, he answered, 
" I tell you, that, if these should hold their peace, the stones 
would immediately cry out.** Yes, there he was, the King 
indeed ! king of nature, king of the Jews, king of the 
world, king of life ; and every thing was ready to serve him, 
and do him homage, — the brute creation, the trees of the 
field, the voices of children, the shouts of the people, — 
every thing save proud, en\ious, selfish human hearts. 

Yet, that there were such hearts, moved him not to anger, 
but to infinite pity. Just as the Pharisees struck in their 
discord upon the hosannas of the people, Jesus turned that 
angle on the shoulder of Olivet, where the whole city burst 
upon the view, with indescribable splendor; temple, palaces, 
walls, towers, gates, gardens, the joy of the earth, lying at 
one's feet. The view was familiar to Jesus ; he had seen it 
as often as he had passed to and from Bethany. But now 
lie halts to behold the city ; and the multitude hush their 
cries, and crowd nearer to hear. From that point, a hundred 
yeai-s before, the Roman general Pompey, coming up from 
Jericho, had looked exultingly upon Jerusalem as his prize. 
On that point, thirty years later, the Roman general Titus 
planted a legion to guard the road to Jericho, and to 



HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST. 299 



batter the walls of the city and the temple. But no 
move of strategy, no thought of conquest, was in the 
mind of the Messiah-king as he stood rapt in the entran- 
cing beauty of the view. His eyes filled with tenderness, 
they overflowed with tears ; and, for the hosannas that had 
just now pealed about him, he broke out in the lamenta- 
tion, " If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy 
day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they 
are hid from thine eyes." Then, foreseeing the day when 
the Roman legions should stand where he stood, he added, 
** For the days shall come upon thee that thine enemies shall 
cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep 
thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the 
ground, and thy cliildren within thee ; and they shall not 
leave in thee one stone upon another : because thou knowest 
not the time of thy visitation." ^ No fiction could have 
invented such a scene. There is a story, that, after his 
victory at Chaeroneia, Philip of Macedon burst into tears at 
the slaughter he had caused of the brave Thebans ; and that 
Alexander the Great, on returning to Persepolis, wept when 
he looked upon the ruin he had brought upon that capital. 
But in both instances the conqueror was himself the agent 
of the destruction that he lamented ; and his feeling was a 
not unnatural reaction, mixed perhaps with remorse. But 
when Jesus beheld the city, and wept over it, there was no 
1 Luke xix. 42-44. 



800 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

visible cause of sorrow. The temple and the capital stood 
in their glorj', never before so proudly beautiful. The 
Romans, indeed, were in possession ; but the Jews had their 
homes and their religion free, and there were no signs of 
war in the sky. His sorrow could spring from no word or 
act of his own. His one thought for his countrymen had 
been to do them good ; his one longing for the city was to 
save it. Refusing to disturb its peace by making himaelf 
king, refusing to turn the excitement of the populace to his 
own advantage, seeing already, in the Ijackground of the 
picture before him, his own cross lifted up, and the same 
people crying '* Crucify liim," ho wept^ not for himself and 
for his sorrows, but for Jerusalem, its sins and its woes. In 
this act Jesus stands alone in history; and by the veiy 
strength of his sympathy for a sinful, suffering race, he lifts 
himself so high above our human experiences that we are 
compelled to say these tears were none other than a 
divine compassion. We should never have understood 
their meaning, but for two events that show us what was in 
the mind of Jesus himself, — his own crucifixion, and the 
destruction of the city. Except for these, his weeping 
would have seemed a weakness or a mystery ; for the 
emotion which Jesus showed in looking upon Jerusalem was 
altogether different from what any other man would have 
felt, or have thought of, at the moment when all the |>eople 
were running after him, when the capital was wild with the 



HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST. 301 



rumor that he was coming as its king, and the air was ring- 
ing with hosannas to his name. It is not in human nature 
in such circumstances not to feel a thrill of pride, of hope, or 
of joy, or some measure of self-complacency. But Jesus 
wept. It was not a city in ruins that he then looked upon ; 
it was no present danger that so moved him : but to his 
prophetic eye were visible the days that in the next genera- 
tion should come upon the capital, — the horrors of the 
siege, the army encompassing the city, the mounds heaped 
up for the assault, the famine and pestilence within the 
gates, the rush of soldiers trampling down the people, 
the burning of the temple, the razing of the walls and the 
houses even with the gi'ound ; and, as he foresaw this 
dreadful end, he wept that liis blinded, infatuated, apostate 
countrymen would not suffer him to save them by bringing 
them back to God. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! If thou 
hadst known ! " 

Not one of the spectators, not one, even, of his own disci- 
ples, understood the meaning of those tears, of that lament. 
They had halted long enough to see and hear this strange 
outburst ; but they were too eager to crown their king to 
heed the warning of the prophet ; and taking up again the 
cry, " Hosanna," the procession swept down the slope of 
Olivet, past the tombs of the prophets, across the bed of the 
Kedron, under the shadow of the temple walls, up the steep 
side of jNIoriah, swelling its numbers at every step, until, as 



302 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

it passed through the eastern gate, " all the city was moved, 
saying, Who is this?" This is Jesus, the Prophet of 
Nazareth of Galilee; no longer a name of reproach: the 
good thing has come out of Nazareth. Hosanna, thy King 
cometh I With these swarming crowds, Jesus passed into 
the temple. The sick, the lame, the blind, were quick to 
hear that this man of wonders, this friend of the poor and 
the suffering, hud come again; and from all parts of the 
town they hurried to the temple, or were carried there, and 
he healed them. These wonderful things that he did raised 
still higher the enthusiasm of the people ; the courts and 
corridors rang witli his praises ; and, in the very cloisters 
where as a boy he had sat with the doctors, were children 
crying, ** Hosanna to the Son of David ! " Again the angry 
priests and scribes broke in with their reproofs ; but Jesus 
said to them, *' Out of the mouths of babes and sucklingB 
Thou hast perfected praise." 

Soon after, leaving the temple, he withdrew from the 
excitements of the day, and went quietly back to Bethany 
to have an evening in his beloved home. 

To-day one may follow in his steps, and, from the same 
spot where Jesus halted to look upon Jerusalem, may see the 
enchanting picture of the city ; but it is no more the Jerusa- 
lem of the Jews. The Turk is master there ; and upon the 
site of the temple stands the sacred mosque of the Moham- 
medans. There are no traces of the ancient building; but 




Children crying Hosanna. 



HOSANNA IX THE HIGHEST. 303 



a few old stones in a side wall mark its foundations; and 
there the pious Jews go every week to weep over the fall of 
their temple, and to pray for the coming of their Messiah. 
It is a sad and hopeless scene. O Jerusalem, if in that day 
thou hadst known the things of thy peace I Yet the very 
blindness and madness that brought on the destruction of 
city and temple gave to the world Calvary and its Saviour ; 
and over that once sacred spot, now turned to wailing, meet 
the waves of song that roll around the redeemed world. 
Blessed is he that came in the name of the .Lord ! 

HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST ! 



CHAPTEU XaaiI. 



JE8U8 THE CHRIST. 



By his public entry iutu Jerusalem, Jesus had signified 
that he was the Messiah. To his own disciples he had made 
himself fully known by his answer to Peter's confession, 
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."' And 
now, by accepting from the multitude the titles '* Son of 
David ** and ** King of Israel," and refusing to rebuke them 
for tlu'se cries, he had allowed himself to be proclaimed 
before all Jerusalem as the Christ. As King of Israel, as 
the Christ of prophecy, he had entereil the city of David, the 
house of the Lord ; he had preached his gospel, and finbhed 
his work: but his kingdom was not of this world; and, with 
his character and mission thus clearly unveiled, he was now 
ready to die. His entrj- took place on Monday, amid the 
hosannas of the people ; and, before noon of Friday, he was 
hung up on the cross, amid the jeers of the mob. Never 
was so much compressed into one human life, as in these last 
da}-^ of the life of Jesus, — so nun b i^f truth, of testimony. 

» Matt XV i. *.. 
30* 



JESUS THE CHRIST. 305 



of warning to all who had ears to hear ; so much of counsel 
and of sympathy in the intimacy of friends ; so much of 
compassion and of help for the needy ; so much of pity and 
of promise for his disciples ; so much of love for enemies, 
and of sacrifice for all ; so much of loneliness and of deser- 
tion from man and God ; so much of agony and shame in 
suffering, and of majesty and triumph in death. 

Spending his nights at Bethany, he went every morning 
over the Mount of Olives to the city, and gave the day 
to the temple, preacliing to the people, whose number 
increased as the Passover drew near, and whose excitement 
gi-ew more and more intense under his stern and burning 
words. For the ministry that opened with benedictions 
and entreaties closed with rebukes and threatenings. His 
first miracle used his power over nature to further a social 
festival, — a miracle of creation, to cheer and bless : his last 
miracle used his power over nature for a symbol of the 
favored but fated people in whom his ministry had come to 
no fruit, — a miracle of destruction, withering the barren 
fig-tree from the roots. 

This parable in action was followed by a series of para- 
bles, in which the central thought is always the rejection of 
himself and his grace by the Jews, and their rejection in 
turn by his Father, through the overthrow of their city, 
their temple, and their nation, and in the severer judgments 
of the last great day. In these parables, the Jewish people, 



306 JESITS OF NAZARETH. 



with their national pride and their religious formalism, are 
compared to the son who was full of promises, but never 
(lid liis father's will ; and are told that the lowest of the 
heathen who repent of sin ** shall go into the kingdom of 
God before them."* They are comi>ared to husliandmen. 
who, being in charge of the choicest vineyard, kille<l the heir, 
and were themselves destroyed by the lonl of the vineyartl ;' 
they are compared to favored guests invited to the marriage 
of tlie king's son, who not only refuse to come, but stir up 
insurrection against the king, and compel him to discard and 
punish them, while the wedding is funiisheil with guests 
from the beggars of the highway's.* Tliese parables cut at 
the root of their national pride and of their self-righteous- 
ness, and turn tlieir very hopes of the Messiah as king 
into so many accusiitions for rejecting the Messiah as Sav- 
iour. Such prcacliing must have one of two effects: eithrr 
it must open their eyes, humble their hearts, bring them t- 
confess their error, and turn from tlieir sins ; or it mu-i 
stiffen their pride, rouse their national jealousy, and stir up 
hatred against their reprover. 

But more decLsive than thLs faithful dealing with ih> 
people wjis the boldness with which Jesus denounced the 
scribes and Pharisees. At first they tried to suppre— ^• 
teaching, demanding, " By what authority- doest thou 
things? and who gixve thee ih:\t anthoritv'*"* But 

» Matt, xxii. 1-10. « Matt. xx'i. 23. 



JESUS THE CHRIST. 307 



baffled them by insisting that they should first tell him 
whether the baptism of John was from heaven, or of men. 
They could not say '' From heaven ; *' for Jesus would ask, 
** Why, then, did ye not believe him ? " They could not 
say, " Of men ; " for they feared the people, who held John 
as a prophet. So Jesus refused to give his authority. His 
works and his words were authority enough; and he 
silenced them. 

Defeated on this side, the scribes and Pharisees tried '* to 
catch him in his talk/' In their eagerness to make out a 
case against him, the parties who were commonly quarrelling 
with each other came together, and agreed upon a plan of 
attack. First came the Herodians,^ of a political party who 
hc'kl that it was best to keep peace with the Romans by 
owning their authority, and yielding to their demands. 
These asked him, *' Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, 
or not?" If Jesus had said ''No," theHerodians would have 
denounced him to the Roman governor as preaching up sedi- 
tion; but, if he had said "Yes," the Pharisees would have 

1 The Herodians were so called from King Herod the Great. The 
strict Jews held that no one had a right to rule over them who was not 
a Jew by birth and in religion. Xow, Herod was by birth an Idumaean, 
and at heart was more a Pagan than a Jew; but he had made himself 
master of Judea, and by courting favor at Rome had obtained the title 
of king. In this state of things, some leading Jews were disposed to 
separate government from religion, and to support Herod's authority 
and the Roman emperor, for the sake of worldly advantages. Even for 
a long time after the death of Herod, such Jews were called Herodians. 



308 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



stiiTed up the people against him as willing to surrender the 
Jewish nation to its enemies. Culling for a penny, Jesus 
showed them, that, by using money stam(>ed with the head 
of the emperor, they acknowledged his authority; but at 
the same time he upheld the authority of Jehovah, saying, 
"Render to Cajsar the things that are Caesar *&, and to God 
the things that are God's.'* * So tliese crafty politicians 
were put down. 

Next the Sudilucei s,- who held ihai im re i^ no resurrec- 
tion, tried to catch him by supposing the case of a woman 
who had been married seven times, and asking whose wife 
she should be in the resurrection. But Jesus answered, 
** When they shaD rise from the dead, they neither marn*, 
nor are given in marriage ; but are as the angels wliich are 
in heaven ; " and then he showed how their own Scriptun> 
assume a life after death, and speak of Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob as still living with God. So the sceptical Sadducees 
were put down ; and both the common people and scribes 
who were stiinding b>- took sides with Jesus. 

At last one of the ablest scribes,' or lawyers, was moved 

1 Mark xii. 13-17. 

* The Saihiucct s wen* a somx>i or fJtH"t vi n'i''rnuT> anu in-t- imuKi-rs 
that arose about two huiuirtHi years lx»fon? Christ, as the followers of m 
famous t*»acher namtnl Zmiot. They bepui with trying to purify the 
national religion, by op}x)sing many tnulitions and O' ' ^ ; but 

they endetl in rejecting some of the chief doctrines, ru provi- 

dence of God, tlie existence of the aouU and the life after de;.' 

» There had always been, among the Levites, men whoso sjx^cial 




TiExnFR CNTO C.t:sai? thk Things that are Cesar's. 



JESUS THE CHRIST. 309 



to ask him, "Which is the great commandment of the 
law ? " The teachers of the haw were constantly disputing 
on this point; some insisting upon sacrifices as of the first 
importance, others upon tithes or ceremonies. But Jesus 
could not be drawn into such controversies; and his answer 
took hold so deeply upon the reason, the heart, and the con- 
science, upon the very nature of God, of men, and rehgion, 
that "no man after that durst ask him any question." 
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
with all tliy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy 
strength: this is the first commandment. And the second 
is like, namely, this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 
There is none other commandment greater than these." ^ 

Jesus now turned the tables upon his enemies ; and, as 
the Pharisees - were gathered around him, he asked them a 

studies ill the sacred law gained for them the title of "the learned." 
But, in the time of Ezra, a school was formed for training such students; 
and these gradually rose into an order of teachers, who were looked up to 
by tlie people as an authority upon questions of doctrine and of prac- 
tice. The scribes made commentaries upon the law; and by degrees they 
came to be divided among themselves, and, like schools of theology 
nowadays, to dispute about the meaning or the importance of the 
doctrines which they derived from their sacred scriptures. 

1 Mark xii. 28-34. 

2 The Pharisees might be called the Ritualists of their day. In the 
third century before Christ, there was, among the Jews, a revival of that 
old spirit of piety that had kept them separate from other nations, as 
the special people of God. This devout feeling, a certain party sought 
to perpetuate by making piety consist in a strict observance of the letter 



310 JB8U8 OF NAZARETH. 

question that put them to confusion before the people : 
"What think ye of Chiist? whose son is he?" They 
answered at once, "The son of David." — "How, then," 
said Jesus, "doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The 
Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand till I 
make thine enemies thy footstool?" The Jews regarded 
the One Hundred and Tenth Psalm as a prophecy of the 
Messiah. He is there pictured as a king subduing kings 
and nations, and the hostd of whose followers are as multi- 
plied, as fresh, and as brilliant as the dew of the rooming. 
At the same time he is a priest, yet not of a changeable 
human priesthood, but " a priest forever after the order of 
Melchizedck," who stands forth alone in his ro}-al and 
priestly dignity, with no mention of his birth or his death, 
of ancestoi*s or successors ; the type of an eternal priesthood. 
But the Psalmist pictures his royal priest, his consecrated 
Lord, as sitting at the right hand of God, and sliaring tlie 
power and dignity of the Most High ; and since the Jews 
were so jealous for the name of Jehovah that they made it 
bla.'iphemy, — a sin punished by death, — to give to a man 
the titles, the place, the honor, of God, therefore DaN-id in 
calling Christ his Lord, and seating him upon the throne of 

of the law, as to the forms of worship, »acrifice«, prayers, alms, Ac ; 
but what at first was a rt- al spirit of reli^oua fejror came to be wUk 
many a mere formalism, an outward show. Jesus did not hesitate to 
call the Pharisees h>'ixx?rites. for makiug so much show of religion 

when they had so 1 !♦♦'•' ^^ 'ts spirit 



JESUS THE CHRIST. 311 



Jehovah, made him the Son of God, the sharer of divme 
majesty and glory. Far, far above the earthly throne of 
David was the Christ before whom David bowed in homage 
as his Lord. This divine sonship did Jesus tacitly claim for 
himself in his question to the Pharisees ; and " no man was 
able to answer him a word;'*^ but "the common people 
heard him gladly."^ He now openly spoke of himself to his 
discij)les as the Christ: "one is your Master, even Christ;"^ 
and, after his explanation of the prophecies concerning 
Christ, there can be no doubt of his meaning that he, the 
Son of man, was the Son of God. It was God his Father 
who had sent him into the world, who had commanded him 
what he should speak,* and who always heard his prayer. 

Star diiig forth now as the Christ, in the audience of all 
the people, he uttered warnings against the scribes and 
Pharisees, their pride, their greed, their vanity, their 
oppression, their hypocrisy. Then he denounced them to 
their faces as hypocrites, "which devour widows' houses, 
and for a pretence make long prayers, and who shut up the 
kingdom of heaven against men; as blind guides, which 
strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel ; as whited sepulchres, 
that outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within are 
full of hypocrisy and iniquity." He charges them with the 
blood of the prophets, with the purpose of persecuting and 
killing his disciples, and warns them of the " damnation " 
1 Matt. xxii. 46. 2 Mark xii. 37. ^ Matt, xxiii. 9. * John xii. 49. 



312 JESUS OF K^VZAKETH. 

that shall come upon them. Yet, in all these terrible accusa- 
tions and warnings, there was nothing of personal bitterness, 
nothing of resentment for their treatment of himself. For 
after these searching, burning words comes again the lamen- 
tation, " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the 
prophets, and stoncst them that are sent unto thee ! how 
often would I have gathered thy children together, even as 
a hen gatliereth her chickens under her wings, and ye 
would not !''^ The crisis was approaching; it must come. 
If such preacliing shut up the people either to confessing 
Jesus as the Saviour sent from God, or to rejecting him as 
the disturber of their peace, it drove the Pharisees to a 
fiercer determination to get rid of him altogether. It was 
plain that he or they must go down. How could they hope 
for respect for their authority and teachings, if they suffered 
him to denounce them as blind, fiilse, selfish, cnieL, a '* gen- 
eration of vipers " ? ' Every day they were plotting how to 
put him out of the way. Jesus knew their purpose, was 
prepared for it, and now began to prepare his disciples for 
the end which was just at hand. 

Two of the twelve, Andrew and Pump, loid him uuii 
some Greeks who had embraced the Jewish faith were 
anxious to see him. At this late day his disciples were still 
Jews to their hearts' core, looked Ujwn their Master as the 
Saviour and King of Israel, and could hanlly think it proper 

1 Matt. x:xiii. oT-^iS. « Matt xiiii. SS. 



JESUS THE CHRIST. 313 



to present to him men of a foreign race, who were born 
Pagans, and now were only proselytes. But to the mind of 
Jesus the desire of these Greeks to see him foreshadowed 
the coming of the whole Gentile world to his kingdom. 
This could not be, however, so long as he remained in the 
body, and as a Jew, known only to his countrymen, and fol- 
lowed only by a few of them. To bring the world to him, 
he must first give his life for the world. Rejected by the 
Jews, and hung upon the cross, the meaning of his life and 
work would then be known and read of all men, and the 
Son of man should indeed be glorified. Before the life that 
was in him could exert its quickening, saving power, it 
must be set free from the earthly shell that surrounded it. 
"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground, and die, 
it abideth alone ; but, if it die, it bringeth forth much 
fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he 
that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life 
eternal." ^ So said Jesus, now that he was called once more 
to choose between the worldly popularity that might lift 
him to a throne, and the self-sacrifice that should bring him 
a spiritual seed. To save his life by serving the whim of the 
people, would be to throw away his life as a power of good. 
To hate even the thought of saving his life by abandoning 
his work, to sacrifice his life to his work, would be to keep 
his name and work forever alive in the hearts and the lives 
1 John xii. 24, 25. 



314 JE8U8 OF NAZARETH. 

of men. With this high devotion to truth and God, he 
calls upon his servants to follow him even to death ; then, 
rising into the sublime consciousness that he is the Son 
of God, he adds, '' Where I am, there shall also my servant 
be. If any man serve me, him will my Father honor." ' 
He does not hesitate to say that heaven is. for him and his 
followers, and to pledge the Father to honor those who 
serve Jesus as serving God himself. 

But this vision of spiritual and heavenly glor)- does not 
lift him above the weakness of his human nature. The very 
refuRinent and spirituality of his feelings render tlie nerves 
of his body the more keenly sensitive to pain. The finest, 
noblest natures suffer most. And the shrinking of his 
nervous oigauisni from the anguish of the cross causes him 
to exclaim, ** Now is my soul troubled.'* Tlie old conflict of 
the wilderness between tlie flesh and tlie spirit is renewed ; 
and, "'What shall I s;iy? Father, save me from this 
liour : '' so pleads the man within him, the human, that 
slirinks from torture and death. *" But for tliis cause eame 
I to this hour j '* my whole life has been shaped toward 
this end ; ** Father, glorify tliy name : " so answers the 
Christ within him, the Son of God, to his Fatlier's will." 

A sound breaks from the clear heaven. The people 
tied say, some, ** It thundered;" others, "An angel t^aivc 
to him ; '* ^ but to his quickened ears it was a voice from 

1 John xii. 26. « John xii. 27. » John xli. 29. 



JESUS THE CHRIST. 315 



heaven, saying, " I have glorified my name, and will glorify 
it again." 1 The Christ now rises to his throne, and 
takes the dominion of the world. "Now is the judgment 
of this world ; now shall the prince of this world be cast 
out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw 
all men unto me, "^ — victory and dominion through the 
cross. He declares himself the light of the world; he 
identifies himself with God. " He that seeth me seeth him 
that sent me." But in all this there is no fanaticism. He 
feels the ground he stands upon. It is a great and serene 
soul speaking from the inmost depths of truth. His late 
severity vanishes ; the deep undertone of compassion is 
heard once more : " If any man hear my words, and believe 
not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, 
but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth fj 

not my words, hath one that judge th him. The word that 
I have spoken, the same shall judge him at the last day." ^ 
Man is bound to obey the truth. Wherever he disregards 
truth, or swerves from it, in physics, in morals, in society, 
he must suffer the penalty in the very laws of his being. 
Truth is certain ; truth is unchanging ; truth is living ; 
truth is eternal. We can never get rid of a truth that we 
have once known. The fact of meeting it brings the obliga- 
tion to regard it. And if Jesus spake not of himself, but 
spake the truth of God, then his word must guide and save 
1 John xii. 28. 2 John xii. 31, 32. » John xii. 47, 48. 



316 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

the soul, or will judge and condemn it. Leaving his word 
as light and judge, Jesus closed his public ministry, and 
went out, and departed from the temple. 

As they were leaving, his disciples called his attention to 
the size and splendor of the buildings; to which Jesus an- 
swered, "'' There shall not be lefi here one stone upon another 
that shall not be thrown down/' * They were on their way 
to Bethany; and, when they reached the summit of the 
Mount of Olives, they sat down to rest, with the city lyii^ 
at their feet. The discourses and parables of Jesus in the 
temple had impressed the disciples with an unwonted awe. 
Ilis terrible warnings and denunciations were now uppers 
most in their thoughts; and, supjiosing the day of judgment 
to be at hand, they came to the Master saying, '* Tell us 
when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of 
thy coming, and of the end of the world ? " * Jesus gave 
them in outline a panorama of events that should follow 
his crucifixion until the destruction of Jerusalem, — wars, 
commotions, famines, pestilences, earthquakes in divera 
places, fearful sights, and great signs from heaven. They 
themselves should be persecuted, imprisoned, some of them 
put to death. At last Jerusalem should be compassed with 
armies ; its inhabitants should fall by the eilge of the sword, 
or be led away captive, and the city trotlden down of the 
Gentiles. As this destruction would come suddenly, the 

i M:Ut. xxiv. 1. 2. « XUtt 



JESrS THE CHRIST. 317 



disciples should take heed, watch, and pray, that they may 
flee in season. Like wise virgins, they must have their 
lamps filled and trimmed ; like faithful servants, must be 
ready to account for their talents. Three days before, from 
that very spot Jesus had wept over the doomed city ; now 
he has only to warn his disciples to escape its fate. Then 
he rode into the city as Christ the King ; now he sits above 
it as Christ the Sovereign and the Judge. There is some- 
thing terrible in the majesty that here invests this meek and 
patient man, this loving and suffering Saviour. He came to 
his own, and his own received him not. Hencefortli men can 
be divided into but two classes: they who receive him, and 
they who reject him, — his friends, and his enemies. And 
such also shall be the separation of the world at the last 
great day. As Christ is the central point of human history, 
the dividing and decisive test of human charticter, so shall 
he be the central figure in the judgment, the point of separ- 
ation for eternity. " When the Son of man shall come in 
his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he 
sit upon the throne of his glory ; and before him shall be 
gathered all nations ; and he shall separate them one from 
another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from tlie goats; and 
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the 
left;" and the test by which they shall be divided is their 
treatment of himself in the persons of the poor, the sick, 
the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger, the prisoner. 



318 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

And so through all the majesty of Christ the Judge still 
beams the mercy of Jesus the Saviour.* 

At that very time the chief priests, the scribes, and the 
elders of the people, were in conclave at the palace of 
Caiaphas the high priest, contriving how they might take 
Jesus by craft, and put him to death, without causing an 
uproar among the people. Jesus and the discijiles went on 
to Bethany for the night, the last night he should spend 
there. Forgetting his dangers and sorrows, he was once 
more the guest among friends. It was at this supper that 
Mary filled the house with the odor of the ointment that 
she poured over his feet. " She is come beforehand," said 
Jesus, *' to anoint my body for the bur}-ing.*'« And Judas 
Iscariot, who liad sneered at the waste, slunk away fix)m 
that scene of love, and went and sold himself for thirty 
pieces of silver, to betray his Lord to the chief priests in 
the absence of the multitude. 

1 Matt. xxy. t Mark xiv. l-«. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



THE LAST SUPPER. 



It was now Thursday, which was " the first day of un- 
leavened bread, when they killed the passover/' ^ By noon 
of that day all labor would cease, and all leaven would 
be put away ; before sundown the paschal lamb would be 
killed ; and after sunset, which by the Jews* reckoning was 
the beginning of Friday, the lamb would be eaten with 
bitter herbs and unleavened bread. It was a great point, 
with Jews from the country, to eat the Passover within the 
gates of Jerusalem ; and people who had houses in the city 
did their utmost to provide accommodations for guests, even 
though these were not relatives or friends. Early on 
Thursday morning, Jesus sent Peter and John over from 
Bethany to make arrangements for the Passover at the 
house of a friend in the city, who had a large upper room 
furnished and prepared.^ Toward evening Jesus went over 
to Jerusalem with the rest of the disciples. ^ 

At the first the Passover was a family feast. Every 

1 Mark xiv. 12. ^ L^^te xxii. 8-13. « Mark xiv. 16, 17. 

319 



320 JESUS OF NAZABETH. 

family had its own lamb ; or, where families were too 
to provide and use an entire lamb, two or three neighbon 
were allowed to join togetlier in the feast At first, too, 
every lamb was killed at home, and its blood win sprinkled 
on the lintels and doorposts of the house. But at this time 
it was quite usual for men alone to obsenre the mipper, 
coming together in companies of twenty or more without 
regard to family connections; though women were not 
excluded if they wished to partake of the lamb. The lamb 
was killed at the temple, where its blood was sprinkled on 
the altar ; then it was taken home to be roasted whole, caie 
being taken that not a bone should Ik? broken.* 

The twelve disciples of Jesus were to him as a family. 
For three years they had hardly been separated from him, 
except when sent upon preaching-tours ; and in the last few 
months they had been with him in all his journeys. Now 
in these last days, the thicker the shadows of death gatli- 
ered around him, the closer did Jesus cling to his disciplflB. 
There was, indeed, little in them to loan upon. — in fact, 
nothing of what this world reckons a support. PosiUon, 
wealth, influence, power, learning — these they had not. 
Capacity for great ideas and great undertakings they had 
not shown. They had faUed to understand their Master's 
teachings, or to take hold of the true idea of his mission 
and work. But, with one exception 1... knew them to be 
* Eiod. xii. 4 v.. 



THE LAST SUPPER. 321 



true ; and the very simplicity of their devotion, based as this 
was upon strong common-sense, recommended them to him 
Its men to be chosen and trusted. Under all their mistakes 
and weaknesses, were the elements of a strong, true charac- 
ter ; and, as the end drew near, Jesus confided to them his 
inmost thoughts and feelings, his purposes and hopes, until 
at last he shared with them the sacred intimacy of his soul 
with God: ** Henceforth I call you not servants; for the 
servant knoweth not what his lord doeth : but I have called 
you friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father I 
have made known unto you.'' * It was with these feelings 
that he gathered the twelve around him as his own fiimily 
at the paschal feast ; his last houi*s upon earth he would 
spend in the sacred privacy of friendship. Very significant 
is the language in which John describes this : *^ When Jesus 
knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of 
this world unto the Father, having loved his own which 
were in the world, he loved them unto the end." ^ These 
words, and the act« that go along with them, show the heart 
of Jesus in its human tenderness, and the mind of Jesus in 
its divine wisdom. How tenderly human to love on more 
and more to the end I how divinely wise to use the pro- 
foundest feelings of human nature for the furtherance of a 
kingdom which could prosper only in and through the 
hearts of men I 

1 John XV. 15. * John xiii. 1. 



322 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

Among the most powerful agencies in human action are 
the social instinct, elective affinity, or the chias instinct, 
corporate unity, and memorial expression. These instincts, 
tendencies, attributes, — term them what we will, — are 
undying properties of human nature ; and Jesua showed his 
marvellous wisdom as a reformer, in that he did not run 
counter to these in his arrangements for his church, but 
utilized them all in subjection to, and in harmony ti-ith, hi* 
great ideas of love and of holiness. By his doctrines of thr 
worth of the soul, and of the personal relations of man with 
God, he gave to man, as man, a position far higher than any 
philosophy or religion of antiquity had given him, and 
higlier even than modem science and modem democmcy 
have yet attained ; but he never proi)osed to set up each 
man for himself as his own chief end and good, living like 
a mystic in some hidden personal rehition with God. On 
the contrary, his doctrine of the worth of the individual rmn 
into the doctrine of brotherhood. As, in respect to com- 
mon wants and helps, every man is a neighbor, so, in respect 
to spiritual wants and hopes, every man is a brother. '* One 
is your Father which is in heaven ; and one is your Master, 
even Christ ; and all ye are brethren.^ Instead of crucify- 
ing the social instinct through spiritual pride, Jesus sought 
to ennoble this instinct, and bring it to perfection in Chris- 
tian communion and brotherhood. 

But, on the other hand, he did not run thi< M. . .^"^ --ther- 



THE LAST SUPPER. 323 



hood into commuuLsm : his doctrine of liberty, equality, 
fraternity, was not that of a community of goods, of " share 
and share alike " in all places of honor and authority, in 
all possessions of talent or property. While he taught that 
all are children of one Father, that souls are of equal value 
before (iod, and that it is the duty of every one to love hia 
neighbor as himself, to desire the good of others, and seek to 
promote this as ho would his own, he also taught the liberty 
of every man to choose his associates, and to fraternize 
with his own ciicle of friends. From among all his disci- 
ples and followers, ** he chose twelve that they should be 
with him.** These twelve he kept about him as his compan- 
ions ; he told them many things that he did not tell to 
others ; he ** loved them to the end ; ** he brought these 
twelve together by themselves to share with liim his last 
8U[)per ; he spoke to them the most tender, endearing words, 
repeating, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen 
you.*' * Here was the principle of selection, of adoption, of 
preference, though all other disciples were alike the objects 
of the Master's love. 

But Jesus carried this selection still further ; and, among 
these twelve who were chosen from the rest, he had favor- 
ites a Ad confidants. At the raising of Jairus's daughter, he 
left all the disciples outside of the house save Peter, James, 
and John. These three he took with the father and the 

1 Johu IV. IG. 



324 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



mother of the maiden into the room where she lay dead. 
Again, when he went up into the mountain to be transfig- 
ured, he took with him only Peter, James, and John ; and, 
on coming down, he made them promise not to tell their 
brother disciples what they had seen, till he should haTe 
risen from the dead. He sent Peter and John to Jeru- 
salem to prepare the Passover; and at the last, when 
he went to Gethsemane, he left the body of the disciples 
near the entrance of the garden, and took Peter, James, and 
John within, desiring that the three who had seen him in 
his glory should be near him in his agony; always these 
three, and only these three. Here was an elective affinity 
shown by Jesus within the little circle of his chosen disci- 
ples ; a choice within a choice. And he carried his personal 
preference still further; within this little inner circle of loved 
companionship, he had yet a nearer love, a choice among the 
three. Peter he took in confidence in matters of energy and 
prominence, — built upon him as a rock ; but John he took 
to be nearest his heart. He was known among the brother- 
hood as " the disciple whom Jesus loved ; " at the supper he 
was " lying on Jesus' breast ; " he was the only one who 
stood by the Lord through all the last scenes ; and from the 
cross, "when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple standing 
by whom he loved, he said unto his mother. Woman, behold 
thy son ; and, to the disciple, Behold thy mother.*' » From 
1 John xix. 26, 27. 



THE LAST SUPPER. 325 



all his followers, he singled out one for the most tender, 
sacred offices of human affection and of Christian fidelity. 
The love of Jesus did not waste itself in a vague sentiment 
over humanity ; but while it was broad enough and deep 
enough to take in the whole human family in all nations and 
all generations, a love for men that would save the world, 
at the same time it sought out the individual and the par- 
ticular. The wide-flowing stieam had its sunny isles, its 
quiet nooks, its rippling eddies, for childhood, for home, for 
friendship, for chosen company. Jesus would root out all 
selfish loves; he would reahze the brotherhood of humanity, 
would institute a world-wide charity, would swallow up 
pride, bigotry, jealousy, hatred, war, revenge, in the love of 
our neighbor. But he did not attempt to suppress those 
instincts that God has planted in our nature, that point us 
to the family, to friendship, to some sacred union of per- 
sonal choice, as a motive and a means to our highest 
welfare. He did not seek to reform and save society by 
destroying the very sentiments and properties in the nature 
of man that fit him to be a social being. He used these 
same elements of power for building up his own kingdom 
of love. In this Jesus showed himself the greatest of 
social philosophers, the wisest of reformers. If we follow 
his example, we shall love and seek the good of all men, 
shall have no personal aims nor ends against the welfare of 
others ; but we may have our chosen circle of companions, 
our private set of confidants, our bosom friend. 



326 JESUS OP NAZARETH. 



In using the principle of elective affinity, Jesus went still 
further in the direction of the class instinct. The French 
convention of 1793 put forth, as tlie highest law of human 
society, the maxim that the " liberty of each citizen ends 
where the liberty of another citizen begins/* This was the 
last outcome of those " savioui-s of society " in the eighteenth 
century, who led the revolution, the throes of which Europe 
still feels. Much as they did for humanity, they left to 
France a century of vibration between anarchy and despot- 
ism. To carry out their theory of liberty, they set a'-id** 
every order, distinction, class, privilege, that had Xki :•_ 
existed in Church or State, and sought to produce a dead 
level of citizenship. These leaders were, for the most part, 
haters of Christianity. Now, Jesus, as a reformer of society, 
was also a leveller ; his doctrine was for man, against all the 
barriers of caste, of nation, of race ; and for the common 
people, against the scribes and Pharisees. But where the 
liberty of another bejins he makes our duty also begin, to 
seek his best good. Yet, at the same tune, he created an 
order, an aristocracy, which in its claims is more lofty, and 
in its conditions more absolute and select, than any that over 
existed on the face of the earth. This class, divided from 
all the rest of mankind by a new birth and a holy character. 
are known as the elect of God, his children, the hein of 
heaven; they, and they alone, are in the kingdom of God on 
earth; they, and they alone, shall possess heaven heieafUr. 




THE LAST SCTPER. 327 



Between them and all others, the separation here is as wide 
as holiness from sin ; and hereafter there will be a " great 
gulf fixed." Never was so high, so sweeping, so lasting a 
claim as this, set up on behalf of any order of men; an 
aristocracy of heaven established on earth. But this order, 
or society, hiis these three peculiarities, — first, that it is 
spiritual in its tokens and its rewards ; second, that any one 
can enter it by changing his life and character to conform 
to its conditions ; and, third, that, once within its pale, all its 
members are equal. The most towering aristocracy fiom 
without, it is the most level democracy within. By its spirit- 
ual nature it can go anywhere, among all people, in all lands. 
By its superior claims it sweeps away all earthly distinctions, 

— thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, — as things 
of nought. By its free spirit it attracts every one who 
wishes to become all that it is possible to be in character. 
Jesus thus appeals to one of the strongest of human instincts, 

— the desire to me, — and by the purest and noblest ambi- 
tion leads on the perfection of humanity. It matters not 
how low one is in birth or station, how poor in means and 
qualities : ** to as many as receive him, he gives power to 
become the sons of God ; which are born not of blood, nor 
of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 

The social instinct and the elective attraction, so powerful 
in human nature, find expression in various modes of corpo- 
rate unity ; and this tendency to society in action, as well as 



328 



JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



in feeling, Jesus took advantage of in forming hh, church. 
But in this, as in every thing, he refined upon a human 
quality, and gave it the highest spiritual impulse and direc- 
tion. For the unity which he esUblished was not one of 
modes and forms, but of faith and love. The supper that 
he commanded his disciples to observe, and the rules he 
gave for offending brethren, imply and riKiuirc some kind of 
association; but the sign of Christian fellowship should be 
" that ye love one another ; '' and the unity of the Church, 
a spiritual accord tlu'ough union in Clirist and with Uie 
Father ; " as thou. Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they 
also may be one in us : I in thorn, and thou in me, that they 
may be made perfect in one ; that the worid may know that 
thou hast sent me." There can be no body of Christ except 
where there is the spirit of Christ. The union of believers 
with Christ is so near and full that it is described as a par- 
ticipation of his very lil m the vine, ye are the 
branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the aame 
bringeth forth much fruit ; for without me ye can do noth- 
ing." Here is the hiw of union, or incorporation, in its 
highest form: not mere outward association, but inner 
unity ; not creeds and modes, but life and fruit. 

Yet there is one outward token of thb inward unii^ i— • 
Jesus himself appointed, — the communion of saints ; and, 
in so doing, he took advantage of the fondness there is in 
man for memorials. By the memorial supper, he would 



THE LAST SUPPER. 829 

gather his disciples around his table in remembrance of 
himself. The foim of this remembrance is so simple that 
it can be everywhere observed. Had he required a pilgrim- 
age to his tomb, or proposed a memorial at Jerusalem, the 
great body of mankind must have been cut off from any 
share in it. But this memorial, in the simplicity of its form, 
Ls universal. Yet, while the most simple, it is at the same 
time the most striking of memorials. 

The thoughts thus far gathered from the scene of ihe last 
supper are all from the human side, showing the wisdom of 
Jesus as a reformer, in using for high spiritual ends the 
broad, deep, underlying, universal instincts and tendencies 
of human nature. But, in this last liour with his disciples, 
we see him not only as teacher and reformer, but as Saviour. 
Not truths mainly, but a life ; and not the life in itself, but 
his life as interpreted by his death, — is what is set forth to 
be remembered in the Lord's Supper. It is common with us 
to observe the birthdays, not the death-days, of those we 
love ; and when death has been connected with an act of 
violence, or some special sadness, we shrink from recalling 
the details. A friend gave me, as a sacred memorial, a 
scrap of the lining of the box in which Mr. Lincoln was 
sitting at the moment when the bullet of the assassin made 
him a martyr. The fragment is stained with his blood ; 
but I keep it hidden out of sight, and prize infinitely more 
the staff he was accustomed to use, sent me as a keepsake, 



330 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

the signature of his hand to a measure of peace and good- 
will, and the picture of himself as reading the proclamation 
of emancipation. It is the living man, his face, his form, 
his words, his deeds, we love to commemorate. Bat Jesus 
arranged, that, to the end of time, his followers should com- 
memorate his death ; and not only so, but the xery manner 
of his death, — that they should break the bread to remind 
them how his body was broken, that they should drink the 
cup to remind them how his bloo<l was shed. And it has 
come to pass, that what we should shrink from in itself — 
the symbol of blood — has become the most sacred memorial 
observed by men. To see why this is so, we must go deeper 
into the meaning of the suj^per, as explained by the talk 
and the prayer of Jesus at the time, and by what took place 
directly afterwards in Gethsemane and on Calvaiy. 

When John the Baptist first pointed out Jesus to his 
disciples, he said, - Behold the Lamb of God, which takcth 
away the sin of the world.'' » In his discourse in the syna- 
gogue at Capernaum, Jesus said, - I am the living bread 
which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this 
bread, he shall live forever ; and the bread that I will jrive 
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 
Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his 
blood, ye have no Ufe in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and 
driuketh my blood hath eternal Hf.'." * V.nv, aU these say- 
1 Johui. 29. . Jv«u>i.ol-M. 



THE LAST SUPPER. 



331 



ings were explained by the paschal meal, of which Jesus 
then partook for the last time, and by the memorial supper 
which he appointed at the same time. The whole evening 
was pervaded with the thought of his going away; the 
shadow of death was in the chamber. When the meal was 
ready, the lamb was placed upon a little table in the centre, 
with bread and wine ; and around this in a circle was a row 
of cushions, or couches, upon which the guests reclined 
while eating. Thus the face of each guest was toward the 
table, and his feet were stretched outwards behind the 
cushion on which he leaned. 

This custom made it easy for Mary, at the supper in 
Bethany, to slip behind Jesus as he reclined at the table, 
and to anoint his feet. At the Lord's Supper there were 
no servants. All ate from a common dish, or there was a 
dish for every group of three or four ; and each guest took 
his portion with his fingers or with a piece of bread. Some- 
times one would hand to another a morsel from the dish. 
So Judas dipped his hand into the same dish with Jesus ; 
and afterwards Jesus dipped a sop, and gave it to him. As 
Jesus was reclining upon one hand, according to the 
custom, and eating with the other, John, whose cushion was 
next his, reclining from the other side could lean his head 
upon Jesus' bosom. Thus they sat around the lamb whose 
blood had been sprinkled on the altar as a token of the 
safetv and deHverance of the people of God. And here was 



332 JE8U8 OF NAZABETH. 

the Lamb of God, whose blood should be shed for the sin 
of the world. Jesus said unto them, " With desire I have 
desired to cat this passover with you before I suffer. For I 
say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be 
fulfilled in the kingdom of God." The offering of a Iamb 
as a type of redemption should ceane when' the redemption 
itself unto the kingdom of God should be perfected through 
his own suffering. In token of this, he now renewed their 
appointment as his apostles, saying, " He that receiveth 
whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth 
mo receiveth him that sent me/' And, again, " Ye are they 
which have continued with me in my temptations ; aiid T 
appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed 
unto me.** But for the last time to repress the elation of a 
worldly ambition, and to purge their eyes of all earthly 
vanities, he gave them the most touching lesson of htunility 
ever put by a master to his disciples. •* He riseth from sup- 
per, and laid aside his garments, and took a towel, and girded 
himself. After that, he poureth water into a basin, and 
began to wash the disciples* feet, and to wipe them with the 
towel wherewith he was girded. Then he said unto them. 
Know ye what I have done to you ? Ye call me Master and 
Lord ; and ye say well, for so I am. If T, then, your Lord 
and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash 
one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that 
ye should do as I have done to vou.** • Next oame that 
* John xiii. 1-17. 




J 



THE LAST STJPPEE. 333 



moment of terrible suspense when Jesus said, " One of you 
which eateth with me shall betray me ; " ^ and even Judas, 
stunned by this revelation of his crime, sought to hide 
himself by asking, "Master, is it I?" Under show of 
buying something for the feast, or giving to the poor, Judas 
now slipped away just after the paschal meal was ended. 
Jesus went on to tell the rest how near was the hour of his 
suffering. "All ye shall be offended because of me this 
night ; for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the 
sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad." He warns the 
over-confident Peter that he shall deny him thrice. The 
scene is fast converging to a tragedy, too painfully earnest, 
too intensely solemn, for liuman endurance. After three 
years of such intimacy as Jesus has had with his disciples, 
he is to die by violence ; one of them shall betray him, all 
shall desert him, and the very boldest shall deny him. But 
in the midst of all Jesus is calm : more than this ; he is full 
of tenderness and pity for his disciples, full of counsel and 
of consolation. Taking the bread, and blessing it, he gives 
it to them, saying, " Take, eat : this is my body." After- 
ward, taking the cup, he gives thanks, and passes it to them, 
saying, " Drink ye all of it ; for this is my blood of the new 
testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." 
As the blood of the lamb had ratified the old covenant of 
the Passover, so should his blood, the blood of the Lamb of 

1 John xiii. 21. 



334 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

God, ratify the new covenant to be commemorated by the 
Lord's Supper. And, while the disciples listen in silent 
wonder, Jesus goes on to say, ** Greater love hath -no man 
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 
But why or how should he lay down his life for them? 
Had they all been prisoners, or proscribed, he might have 
volunteered to ransom them by yielding up his life. But 
the disciples were in no personal danger, if only Jesus 
would take himself out of the way. For their safety it was 
not at all necessary that he should die. He had only to 
quit the countr}% or to go and live quietly in Gahlee, and 
no one would molest these poor, unknown disciples. There 
was no earthly benefit that he could secure to them by 
laying down his life for them. Why, then, should he, 
against their tears and entreaties, insist upon dying, and 
make this the supreme token of his love ? Ah, this is not 
alone the Master about to become the martyr. Something 
more than human speaks in Jesus, of something more than 
common dying. He unveils his higher nature. **I am 
the way and the truth and the life ; no man cometh unto 
the Fatlier but by me. He that hath seen me hath seen the 
Father. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." 
He is going away, but he will come again ; he shidl die, but 
he will rise from the dead. Aftorwanl he will return to his 
Father; then he will send the Comforter, the Spirit of truth. 
He himself has overcome the world, and eveii in the agony 



THE LAST SUPPEE. 335 



of death he shall overcome the prince of this world : there- 
fore his disciples should not be troubled, but be of good 
cheer. He goes to prepare a place for them in his Father's 
house. They shall pray to him, and shall pray to the 
Father in his name. Then he himself prays for them, 
speaking to God as closely, as tenderly, as confidently,, as a 
son to his father. He has nothing to ask for himself. He 
has eternal life to bestow. In this supreme gift he associ- 
ates himself with God. "This is life eternal, that they 
might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ 
whom thou hast sent." He is in God, and God in him. 
'' No more in the world," he plants himself serenely upon the 
love with which the Father loved him before the foundation 
of the world, and says, " O Father, glorify thou me with 
thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before 
the world was." 

What manner of person is he who on the eve of death 
80 acts, so speaks, so prays ? Was Jesus an enthusiast, a 
visionary ? But in vain do we look for enthusiasm in his 
teachings, his actions, his life ; and in these last moments 
there is a sustained dignity, an ineffable calmness, a divine 
consciousness, that breathes over the whole scene his own 
peace. Never had there been such a parting. As we sit in 
that upper chamber, we feel around us such majesty, such 
truth, such holiness, such love, that we would fain antici- 
pate the cry of the centurion at the cross, *' Truly this was 



336 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

the Son of God/* This was the fitting sequel of such a life 
as we have traced in these pages, the rounding-up of such 
a character. We linger bilently, tenderly, adoringlj, in that 
upper chamber : Jesus the Saviour is there. We go beck 
again and again to hciO* those last precious promises, and to 
feel the loving embrace of that last prayer: ^* Neither pray 
I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe 
on me through their word; that they all may be one." 
We feel that there was the turning-point of our human- 
ity, — his sacrifice and our redemption. This do in remem- 
brance of Thee ! Ah, what could ever cause ua to forget 
thee? All Christendom, humanity itself, has become the 
memorial of Jesus. '' The world itself is changed, and is 
no more the same that it was ; it has never been tlie same 
since Jesus left it. The air is charged with heavenly odora ; 
anil a kind of celestial consciousness, a sense of other 
worlds, is wafted on us in its breath. It were easier t > 
untwist all the beams of light in the sky, separatii 
expunging one of the colors, than to get the character of 
Jesus, which is the real gospel, out of tlie world. Look ye 
hither, all ye blinded and fallen of mankind : a better nature 
is among you ; a pure heart out of some pure world is come 
into your prison, and walks it with you. Do you require of 
us to show who he is, and definitely to expound his person ? 
We may not be able. Enough to know that he is not of ua, 
— some strange being out of nature, and above it, whoee 



THE LAST SUPPER. 337 



name is Wonderful. Enough that sin has never touched his 
hallowed nature, and that he is a friend. In him dawns a 
hope, — purity has not come into our world except to purify. 
Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the 
world ! Light breaks in ; peace settles on the air. Lo, the 
prison walls are giving way ! Rise, let us go ! " ^ 

1 Buslmell: Nature and the Supernatural, pp. 331, 332. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



GETHSEMANE. 



The moon was shining !)rightly as Jesus and the eleyen 
disciples (for one had deserted their little band) went out 
at the eastern gate of the city, and took the winding path 
down to the Kedron, as if to follow the familiar way to 
Bethany. The friend who had provide<l them a room for 
the supper could not accommodate them for the night, and 
none of them had homes in Jerusalem ; it was late for going 
to Bethany ; but they might sleep in some of the camps 
around the city, or, at that dry season, could lie with safety 
in the open air. The disciples had not inquired where they 
were going; for they had leametl to follow their Master 
trusting, and not asking. But Jesus knew that, to him at 
least, the night would bring no sleep. Before quitting the 
chamber, they had joined in chanting the Hallelujah Psalms 
(Ps. cxv.-cxviii.) ; and he had sung, ** The sorrows of 
death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon 
mo ; I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the 
name of the Lord : O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my 

338 



GETHSEMANE. 339 

soul I ^ ... I will praise thee ; for thou hast heard me, and 
art become my salvation. The stone which the builders 
refused is become the head of the corner. . . . Blessed be he 
that cometh in the name of the Lord. . . . Bind the sacri- 
fice with cords unto the horns of the altar. Thou art my 
God, and I will praise thee : thou art my God, I will 
exalt thee. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, 
for his mercy endureth forever." ^ In this Psalm he had 
poured forth all the conflicting emotions of grief, conflict, 
agony, submission, trust, consolation, hope, triumph, joy, 
which now agitated his soul. As the paschal supper was 
itself a type of the sacrifice and the redemption which he 
was about to fulfil, so the songs that had clustered around 
the feast, and that to the common Jew were simply a part 
of the ceremony, to him were like a funeral march to attend 
him to the cross. Bach, Graim, Mozart, Liszt, and other 
great composers, have sought to represent the last hours 
of Christ in music that is the very pathos of woe, the 
sublimity of sacrifice, the ecstasy of heaven ; but no mass 
nor passion music can approach the tenderness, the sweet- 
ness, the sacred joy, of those old Psalms of the temple 
as sung by Jesus for his own death and burial. 

We may well believe that this little company were sad and 
silent on the way down the hill to the Kedron : it was like 
walking through the valley of the shadow of death. The 
1 Ps. cxvi. 3, 4. 2 Ps. cxviii. 21-29. 



340 JESUS OF NAZABETH. 

disciples bad not understood the full meaning of the Lord 
in his discourse and his prayer ; nor did they realize that his 
death was so near at hand. But he had spoken of going 
away, of their seeing him no more, and of their being hated 
in liis name ; and this was enough to fill them with sadden- 
ing thoughts. The thoughts of Jesus reached farther and 
deeper. He knew for what purpose Judas had gone oat 
from the supper, and what his enemies were at that moment 
plotting against him ; he felt himself already forsaken by 
the disciples to whom he had just spoken of the tenderness 
of his love, and there was no friend on earth who could 
share his sorrows ; he felt already the burden of his cross 
and the puins of death ; and, more than all, he felt already 
rising in his soul the conflict that he must renew with 
Satan, who, haNnng failed to turn him at the threshold of 
his work, would seek to thwart him at its close. Many 
a one who is great in thinking, and great in action, is 
not great to suffer ; and the prince of this world, who, after 
the temptation in the wilderness, had left Jesus ^for a 
season,'' now made a desperate attempt to assaO hira 
through his fears. This last tri;d would show the worW 
how perfect Jesus was in submission to the will of God, 
under every form of temptation. **The prince of this 
world cometh, and hath nothing in me ; but that the world 
may know that I love tlie Father.'* * 

I John ziT. 31. 



GETHSEMANE. 341 



The ]Mount of Olives was dotted here and there with 
chimps of olive and fig trees, some standing along the high- 
way, others enclosed as gardens, though there were few 
f houses near. To one of these gardens, just across the 
Kedron, Jesus had been accustomed to resort as a quiet and 
shady retreat for meditation and prayer ; and, as they 
reached the gate, he took the disciples in with him, but, 
wishing to be alone, he said to them, " Sit ye here, while I 
go and pray yonder." ^ He had just prayed with them and 
for them in the chamber: now he would pray for himself, — 
would pour out his soul, in direct, earnest pleading with 
God, who only could help him. But though he must " tread 
the wine-press alone," ^ alOne must bear the bitter agony of 
this conflict with death and hell, his heart yearned after the 
sense of sympathy and support, which the nearness of 
fi-iends would give him; and, as he advanced deeper into the 
shades of the gavden, he took with him Peter and James, 
and John, the disciple whom he loved always to have about 
his person. Yet even these might not intrude within the 
sacred spot where he must suffer and struggle and pray and 
triumph for himself alone. Has not every one known some- 
thing of this inner conflict, when his heart so yearned for 
sympathy that he would beg those near him not to go away, 
and yet so longed for a silent hour of his soul with God, 
. that he would say to his dearest friend, *' Leave me a while 
1 Matt. xxvi. 36. 2 ig^. ixiii. 3. 



342 JE8U8 OF NAZARETH. 

alone '' ? So closely did the life of Jesus harmonize with 
ours ill the most tender and sacred of human expeiiences. 
At first he took the three dii>ciples who were with him on 
the mount, as though he would have the witnesses of his 
glory to cheer him in his sorrow ; but, as they passed from 
the moonlight into the thicker shade, tlie shadows seemed 
to thicken also about his soul. '* He began to be sorrowful 
and very heavy ; ** and, as his anguish deepened, the pres- 
ence of friends who could not share it only aggravated the 
pains of death with the thought of parting from them. 
There Ls a holy of holies where each soul must enter alone 
into the presence of Ciod, when death draws aside the veiL 
God pity any soul -which in that* hour still looks to human 
companionship for its solace and support ! 

The love of Jesus would draw his chosen friends nearer 
to him at the dread moment of parting; but his agony, 
intensified by that very love, would keep him aloof. ** Then 
saith he unto them. My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even 
unto death : tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he 
went a little farther (about a stone *s throw*), and fell on his 
face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let 
this cup pass from me : nevertheless, not as I will, but as 
thou wilt." These woixls fell ujKin the ears of the disciples, 
and were afterwaitls quickened in their remembrance by the 
scenes which gave them such a deep significance, and bv tin* 

» Luke xxii. 41. 




Let this Clp pas^s fkom Me. 



GETHSEMANE. 343 



resurrection, which made it so clear who he was that in 
the garden had bowed himself to drink the cup ; but, just 
as this cry of anguish broke upon their ears, their eyes, 
overborne w^ith the sorrows of the evening, closed in 
slumber. 

His first season of prayer brought Jesus no palpable relief. 
The cup was still before him ; " the pains of hell gat hold 
upon him ; " there was no voice of release from heaven ; 
and, though from the first he bowed his will to the will of , 
his Father, his heart shrank from the bitterness and woe 
that were pressed to his lips. His grief yearned for a 
word, a look, from his disciples ; and his love, too, drew him 
again to their side, — just as the mother goes back again and 
again to her child, after she has said her last Good-night. 
** He Cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, 
and saith unto Peter, What ! could ye not watch with me 
one hour?" But this seeming reproof of then: neglect grew 
out of anxiety for their condition ; and Jesus merged his 
own sorrow in pity for the dangers and trials of those he 
loved. '* Watch and pray, that ye enter not into tempta- 
tion : the spirit indeed is wiUing, but the flesh is weak." 
Whatever may have caused the anguish of his soul, have 
cast him trembling upon the ground, have wrung from him 
the imploring cry, "Take away this cup from me," the words 
and the manner of Jesus with his disciples, in the intervals 
of his own agony, betray neither weakness nor fear in the 



344. JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

" Man of Sorrows " now left so utterly alone. Had timidity 
moved him to such " strong crying and tears," * he would 
have made his escape witliout waiting to pray. A few 
houi-s would have placed him beyond Jordan, out of the 
reach of his enemies ; and he could have saved his life 
simply by keeping away from Jerusalem. But the thought 
of fleeing or of hiding did not enter his mind. What he 
prayed for was either deliverance by his Father's own hand, 
or strength to suffer and endure. That one or the other 
would be granted him, he never doubted for an instant. 
He saw clearly that his hour was come; but he also had 
come to this hour, bringing it upon himself by his faith- 
fulness to truth and to God. He knew that his enemies 
would seize him ; but the heroism with which he had faced 
them in the temple, and rebuked them before the crowd, had 
not forsaken him now that he was solitary and alone. He 
knew that his friends would l>e scattered like sheep, but, as 
the Good Shcphenl, he would l>e smitten in their stead. He 
did not flinch from any thing that was before him, through 
common weakness and fear. Through all the pathos of his 
grief, his sorrow never loses the dignity of self-control. 
But he was once more in the furnace of temptation. The 
very purity, nobleness, and delicacy of his nature made him 
the more sensitive to pain, to the stings of sorrow, the 
slights of men, the scoffs of sin ; and Satan had now set 

» Heb. 



GETHSEMANE. 345 



upon him through nerves overstrained by the excitements 
and conflicts of the past six days, and by the tender confi- 
dences of the past few hours with his disciples. From the 
spiritual exaltation of his last discourse and prayer, he came 
to the sudden realization of treachery, desertion, shame, 
ingratitude, suffering ; and the reaction upon such a frame 
plunged him into the terrors of a despondency in which the 
dread of being forsaken of his Father overshadowed him, and 
cast him upon his face. Nothing less than this can be meant 
by the Avords, ''he began to be sore amazed," — filled with 
consternation, in a tremor of anguish, — " and to be very 
heavy " with a weight of despondency that almost crushed 
out his life, " exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." This 
"horror of great darkness" is the fiercest temptation with 
which Satan can assail the soul ; but through it all Jesus 
clings, without faltering, to the will of his Father. He asks 
but to know that the cup is from God, and that God will not 
take it away. Then, hushing his own conflict not yet 
finished, and stilling his sorrow, he gently excuses the fail- 
ings of his disciples : " the spirit is willing, but the flesh is 
weak ; " he bids them overcome temptation, as he himself 
is doing, by watching and prayer. He who could so repress 
his own anguish, pause in his own conflict, be silent about 
himself, and with such tender compassion care for those 
who had neglected to care for him, may have been shaken, 
bruised, burdened, crushed, but was not weak. 



346 JESUS OF NAZABETH. 

Thus roused from slumber, the disciples, moved both by 
shame and by fear, made an effort to keep awake ; but their 
eyes grew heavy again just as their ears caught these 
entreating tones, " O my Father, if this cup may not pass 
from me except I drink it, thy will be done.'* Already the 
Son of man had conquered the fierceness of his anguish. 
At first he had prayed that if possible the' cup might be 
taken away ; but now submission has surmounted sorrow, 
and he accepts the cup, if this be the will of his Father. 
How long he lay thus prostrate under the sharpness of his 
pain, we are not told. His disciples had not come near to 
seek the meaning of this long, strange conflict. But Jesus 
could not forget them ; he felt that they needed his counsel, 
his comfort, his grace. Coming out from the grove, he 
found them asleep again; for tlieir eyes were heavy. They 
started up bewildered, and " knew not what to answer him." 
A third time the same prayer broke upon the ear of night, 
and this time kept the disciples wakeful. The trial of Jesus 
had spent itself ; but his soid, in its victor}* over the flesh, 
had wrought him to such a pitch of agony that the blood 
oozed like sweat through his pores. The watch-hour was 
over. I lis disciples might sleep now, if they could; for 
their Master would lay upon them no further burden for 
himself. But how could they sleep when he said, ** The hour 
is come : the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sin- 
ners " ? Startled and all awake they spring to their feet to 




The Aukkst. 



GETHSEMANE. 347 



surround him as he says, " Rise, let us be going : behold, he 
is at hand that doth betray me." 

At this moment the noise of feet and of voices was heard 
in front of the garden. Judas knew that Jesus was in the 
habit of resorting to this spot ; and, rightly guessing that he 
would go there after the supper, had urged the chief priests 
and Pharisees to take advantage of the night and of this 
secluded spot, to seize his Master without the risk of raising 
a mob. So now a band of soldiers and officers, with lanterns 
and torches and weapons, came hurrying up to take Jesus 
by surprise. But what was their surprise when he stepped 
calmly forward, and said, " Whom seek ye ? " When they 
answered, " Jesus of Nazareth," he replied at once, " I am 
he." At the same time Judas rushed up to him, and said, 
'' Hail, Master ! " and kissed him ; for this was the signal by 
which he had arranged to make Jesus known to the officers. 
It was not needed. Jesus had made himself known; but 
he stamped forever the baseness of the traitor, when he 
turned, and said to him, " Judas, betrayest thou the Son 
of man with a kiss? " The whole majesty of Jesus centred 
in the look with which he gave this reproof, and awaited the 
accents of the traitor ; and as with the mob at Nazareth, and 
once in the temple, that look smote the soldiers with awe, 
so that " they went backward, and fell to the ground." By 
this strange power he might even now have saved his life, 
if that had been his purpose ; but, as he would not escape 



348 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

from his foes by flight, neither would he subdue them by 
supernatural power. Having conquered Satan by prayer, 
and subjected his own will to the will of his Father, this 
Man of Sorrows, who just now lay wrestling and groaning 
upon the ground, stands forth with an ineffable calmness. 
King of the world. King of death. To the soldiers who 
have not yet staggered back to their feet, he says again, 
" Whom seek ye ? " and when they say, *' Jesus of Naza- 
reth," he answers, '*I have told you that I am he: if, 
therefore, ye seek me, let these go their way," the same 
unselfish love always thinking of others, caring for his 
disciples, and surrendering himself on condition that they 
should go free. This concern for them they answered with 
an impulse of courage that would mk their lives in liis 
defence, ** Lord, shall we smite with the sword ? " and, 
before Jesus coidd answer, Peter had dealt about him with 
his sword, and had struck a servant of the high priest, and 
cut off his ear. But Jesus would have no violence in his 
cause : he would conquer by suffering. He said to Peter, 
" Put up thy swoixl into the sheath : the cup which my 
Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ? " And, to show 
the impotence and presumption of such a way of serving 
him, he added, '' Tliinkest thou that I cannot now pray to 
my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve 
legions of angels?" The same di^•iue consciousness that 
stirred within him as a boy in the temple, that gave him 



GETHSEMANE. 349 



Strength in the wilderness, that moved him to raise Lazarus 
from the dead, that enabled him to speak to the rulers and 
Pharisees as King and Judge, — this feeling of a union with 
God, so close and sure that it gave him command of heav- 
enly powers, now led him to assert his majesty as the Mes- 

iali in the very act of surrendering himself a prisoner. 

That such power and majesty are his, he shows by healing 
with a touch the servant whom Peter had wounded ; and 
how sublime does he appear in forbearing to use this super- 
natural power to defend himself, and at the same time using 
it in an act of mercy to an enemy who had come to do him 
violence ! All this while the soldiers were too bewildered to 
seize him. But with a lofty innocence Jesus turned to the 
crowd of armed men who had come like cowards in the 
night, and now stood like cowards around him, and said, 
•• Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves 
to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, 
and ye took me not ; but this is your hour and the poAver of 
darkness." And so he yielded himself up not to them, but 
to the fate that his Father had appointed for him. At this 
'•all the disciples forsook him, and fled." They were not 
cowards, for they were just now ready to fight for him ; but 
here was the sudden and final collapse of their hopes of 
Jesus as the Christ. Not all his teachings and warnings, 
not his frequent talk of dying, not even the supper by 
which he had told them to remember his body broken and 



350 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

hib blood shed, had sufficed to wean them from the Dotion 
that he would show himself the Son of God, confound his 
enemies, and possess his throne. He still talked, of angels 
at his command, still showed his miraculous power, yet 
allowed himself to be taken to what would be certain death. 
This confounded them ; all earthly hopes sank ; and, before 
the power of spiritual ideas could rally in their stead, the 
instinct of saving life seized them like a panic, and they ran 
away. 

A young man, probably a friend of Jesus from a neighbor- 
ing house, startled from his sleep, had run out in his night- 
dress to see what was passing : being laid hold of by the 
crowd, he tore himself away from his garment, and ran to 
hide. In all the confusion and terror of the scene, — swords, 
staves, lanterns, blows, outcries, — Jesus alone was calm. 
Deserted by everybody, he went with the soldiers to £bum 
the men who were sworn to take his life. 

This scene in Gethsemane vouches for its own realiu. 
Such a representation of Jesus could never have been 
invented by his disciples. In making up a story, they would 
have sought to present their Master as a hero, and according 
to their own notions of what the Messiah should be. But 
their enemies would seize upon this agony in the garden as 
a sign of weakness, as a proof that a man who would thus 
suffer and gi-oan in view of death was no true Christ, no 
worthy King of Israel ; and, besides, the story throws such 



GETHSEMANE. 351 



discredit upon the disciples themselves that nothing short of 
j the highest truth and honesty could have induced them to 
• tell it. They would never have made up any thing of the 
sort. Such a story, at once so minute and real in the par- 
ticulars of the sleeping of the disciples, the coming of the 
soldiers, the attempt to fight, the running away, the seizing 
) of the young man, and his escape, and at the same time so 
wide of any motive for invention in the words and acts 
tributed to Jesus, — must have come from witnesses who 
reported wliat they had seen and heard. 

The impression that this scene now makes upon us is 

quite other than that which it would have made if gotten 

up as a legend upon the Jews of that time. As has been 

said already, tve get no impression of weakness in looking 

upon Jesus prostrate in the garden: the scene is in keeping 

with his Ufe and character, and each sheds light upon the 

other. Without this we should have missed the feeling of 

\ brotherhood with us in sorrow, that now makes Jesus one 

1 with us ; but with this scene we realize how much keener, 

\ sorer, than any sorrow known to us, was that he suffered 

through that sacrifice of himself for man, by which he put 

; himself in our place. 

In reading this story, there are two facts that should 

I never be separated. The first is, that there was no physical 

\ > pain and no visible danger that aroused his amazing agony. 

Afterwards we see him under torture, his forehead pierced 



352 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

with thorns, his back torn with stripes, his knees fainting 
under the cross, his hands and feet nailed to the tree, and all 
this amid scoffs and jeers, spitting and cursing, and every 
form of insult ; but, though thus wounded in bodj and in 
spirit, he utters no cry of pain, and no praj-er for relief. 
But here in the garden, where there is np visible cause of 
pain, and no enemy to be seen, where his disciples are at 
hand, and he is praying to his Father, he bursts into such an 
agony that the grove resounds with his groanings, and the 
blood oozes from his body. WTiat can this mean ? The 
second fact is, that he does not attempt to escape from a 
danger that is near and visible. A great soul may flee from 
personal danger without the reproach of weakness or fear; 
as Moses fled from Pharaoh, as Elijah fled from Ahaz, as 
Joseph and Mary fled from Herod. This was to save a life 
from present peril for a future good. 

But Jesus would not flee. Whatever the suffering was 
that so racked him in the garden, it was suffering that he 
chose to endure. What was that suffering ? what could it 
have been but the fulfilment of his own saying, when he set 
up the memorial of his death ? — " This is my body which 
is broken for vou ; this is my blood of the new testament^ 
which is shed for many for the remission of sins." 

And, while thus suffering and sorrowing for us, Jesus has 
set before us the dignity of sorrow, and the strength of sub- 
mission. It is no more a sin in us than it was a sin in him. 



1 



GETHSEJMAKE. 353 



to feel the pangs of grief, and to long and pray to be freed 
from them. Not only can we have a will that seeks and 
urges all possible ways of dehverance from suffering; but 
the having such a will is what gives reality to suffering, and 
meaning to submission. We have a will for the possible, 
but hold this in deference to the will of God ; and here is 
the dignity of sorrow. We have a will ; but for that which 
is not possible we merge our will in the will of God. All 
the chords of human grief are gathered up into that one 
throb of agony that vibrates in unison with every suffering, 
sorrowing spirit, — " O my Father, if it be possible let this 
cup pass from me ; " and all the virtue of submission, by 
which the divine spirit enters into the human with strength 
and consolation, is uttered in that gentle sigh of resignation, 
*' Not my will, but thine, be done." 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE JEWISH TBIAL. 

That judges should be up and ready to hold court before 
daybreak, is matter of surprise even in a hot climate, where 
the work of the day must be done chiefly in the early hount 
of the morning. But in the case of Jesus this was part of 
the plot for his arrest and condemnation. Members of the 
supreme court had bargained with Judas to betray Jesus 
into their hands ; they knew he had gone with soldiers to 
hunt for his Master ; and they were in readiness to hurry 
through the form of a trial, before the affair should be 
noised abroad. Their whole proceeding was as cowardly m 
it wiis unjust. They did not dare to have Jesus put to 
death privately ; for the hosannas of the people were yet 
ringing in their ears, and they could not count upon popular 
sympathy in a secret act of violence. To win over the pop- 
ulace to their side, they must go through the forms of law, 
and accuse Jesus of crimes against religion that would rouse 
the fanaticism of the Jews ; and, to obtain from the Roman 
governor an order for his cinicifixion, they must also accuse 

Sft4 



THE JEWISH TRIAL. 355 



him of some capital offence against the state. Besides, they 
were such sticklers for the law, — or at least for their version 
of it, — that they must satisfy their consciences even while 
plotting murder in their hearts. But to carry their point 
they must take the people by surprise, and get the trial well 
under way before there was a chance for re-action. So the 
members of the sanhedrim were up before the cock-crowing, 
ready for a notice from the high priest that Jesus was in 
liis power. 

The office of high priest, once so dignified and sacred, 
— an office for life and hereditary, — had come to be a polit- 
ical prize, and even a matter of bargain and sale. Since all 
political power had been taken from the Jews, they looked 
to the high priest as the head around which their national 
feeling could rally. Because of the influence which this 
feeling gave him, the high priest was courted by the civil 
power, and in turn was sometimes willing to become a tool 
of the government for the sake of his place. Thus King 
Herod set aside one and another high priest to make room 
for some new favorite who would better serve his purposes ; 
and he once appointed to this office a youth of seventeen. 
Hence it came to pass, that, in addition to the ruling high 
priest, there might be in Jerusalem one or more who had 
formerly held the office, but for some cause had been set 
aside ; and at the time of our story, though Caiaphas was the 
high priest, his father-in-law Annas, who had filled the office, 



356 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

was still alive ; and, as a compliment to his age and standing, 
the captors of Jesus led him to Annas first, who caused him 
to be bound, and then sent to Caiaphas ; who, at that strange 
hour, held a preliminary examination in his own house, and 
then summoned the sanhedrim to meet at daybreak. This 
house was built after the fashion of the East, in the form 
of a quadrangle around a court which was open to the sky. 
On the side next the street was a heavy door, or gate, and 
an arch leading into the court : this was the ** porch," 
or entrance. The rooms were built around the four sides 
of the court, with lattices or windows looking out upon it, 
or sometimes entirely open to it, so that one had but to go 
up a step or two from the court to a ceiled chamber which, 
on the court side, was all open to the light and air. In this 
case awnings were used as a protection against sun and rain. 
In summer, the court was made bright with fountains and 
flowers ; and in winter a fire was kindled there for guests on 
entering and servants in waiting. As Jesus was brought in, 
the high priest was seated in a salon, or hall, on the ground- 
floor adjoining the court ; the servants were up and stirring, 
and had spread a fire of coals in the court near this hall, to 
keep off the chill of the night air. 

In the hope of drawing from him some statement or 
admission by which to accuse him before the sanhedrim, the 
high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his 
doctrine. But Jesus answered by referring to his public 






THE JEWISH TRIAL. 357 



teachings, which were known to everybody in Jerusalem ; 
'' I spake openly to the world ; I ever taught in the syna- 
gogue and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort ; 
and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? 
Ask them which heard me what I have said unto them : 
behold, they know what I said." This answer was fair 
and reasonable. Jesus was not bound to accuse himself : 
there was no use of explaining his doctrine to a judge who 
was bent upon condemning him ; and it was for the high 
priest to say upon what ground he had had him arrested. 
Jesus had no %ecret plans nor teacliings ; he was in no con- 
spiracy against'the chief priests or the rulers. Whatever he 
had to say about them, he had said openly and to their faces. 
But, just and proper as this answer was, no sooner had Jesus 
spoken than " one of the officers which stood by struck him 
with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high 
priest so ? " This was simply an outrage ; and it shows how 
far removed was the tribunal at which Jesus then stood, 
from a true court of justice, which should always protect a 
prisoner from rudeness and insult. Jesus bore the insult 
meekly, but stood on his rights: "If I have spoken evil, 
l)ear witness of the evil; but, if well, why smitest thou 
me?" 

All this is reported by John, who was an eye-witness of 
what passed in the house of Caiaphas. He and Peter had 
soon recovered from their fright in the garden. They had 



358 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

not run far when their love for their Master brought them 
to a standstill ; and, seeing they were not pursued, they 
turned about and followed Jesus, though at a halting pace 
and ''afar off/' It so happened that John ** was known to 
the high priest," and hence he was allowed to go in to the 
palace with the guard ; for no one could enter except by 
permission of the servant who sat by the wicket in the 
porch. Peter therefore stood at the door without ; but John 
presently went and spoke to the maid that kept the door, 
and brought Peter in with him. Peter sat down with the 
servants to warm himself at the fire, while John went 
into the hall whei*e the examination of Jesus was going 
on. After a while, one of the maid-servants of the house, 
peering into Peter's face, recognized him as a man she had 
somewhere seen with Jesus, and charged him with being 
one of his disciples. Peter denied this stoutly, and 
pretended not to know what she was talking about But, 
feeling uneasy, he moved away from the fire, and went and 
stood in the porch. At this moment the cock crew ; but 
Peter was too much taken up with his danger to notice it. 
Several persons were standing around in the porch ; and 
pretty soon another maid pointed him out, and said openly, 
" This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth." Poor Peter, 
having begun to lie, was driven to deny again, and this 
time with an oath. To get rid of his questioner, he sneaked 
back again to the fire. But by this time everybody had 



THE JEWISH TRIAL. 359 



noticed him ; and, as this company of soldiers and servants 
were idly waiting for further orders, it was quite a pastime 
to watch the words and actions of the stranger. For a 
while they let him alone ; and Peter, to make himself appear 
at ease, took part in the talk around the fire. But in so 
doing he roused their suspicions again by his accent and 
dialect, which marked him as a Galilean. This made the 
l»ystanders so confident that several said to him, "Surely 
thou also art one of them ; for thy speech bewrayeth thee." 
It was getting decidedly hot for Peter ; all his courage had 
oozed out of him, since a man always makes himself a 
coward when he takes refuge in a lie ; and when a kinsman 
of the man wliose ear Peter had cut off came up and said, 
" Did I not see thee in the garden with him ? " he " began 
to curse and to swear, saying, " I know not the man." The 
hall being open to the court, this loud talking was heard by 
Jesus ; "and the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter; " and 
at that instant the cock crew again. That look ! that 
sound ! It was like the day of doom. There stood Jesus 
before his accusers, meek and patient under insult, calm 
and fearless in face of death. And here was he who had 
boasted, "Though all men shall be offended because of 
thee, yet will I never be offended;" "Lord, I am ready 
to go with thee, both into prison and to death ; " " Though 
I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." Here 
he was cowering before the maid, moving from the fire 



860 JESUS OF XAZABETH. 

to the porch, and the porch to the fire, trj'ing to escape 
observation, and afraid to admit that he had ever seen Jesus. 
There stood his Master bearing witness for the truth ; and 
here was he lying and denying. That look of reproof and 
pity brought him to himself; and the crowing cock sharp- 
ened the pang that Jesus had warned him of all that he had 
now done. Overwhelmed with shame and anguish, he 
hurried out into the street, and, wrapping his face in his 
mantle, ** wept bitterly," bitterly bewailing his weakness 
and sin, and grieving, oh, how bitterly ! that he could not go 
to Jesus, and fall at his fe^t, and confess his shame. Alas 
for us when those whom we have injured are beyond hear- 
ing our confession, witnessing our repentance, speaking our 
foi-giveness ! But this sin of Peter proved his salvation. 
For the assertion of self-confidence, we find in him after- 
wards the endurance of faith ; for the impulse of enthu- 
siasm, the glow of love that made him more than willing 
to go to prison and to death for the name of Jesus. 

It was now daybreak. Caiaphas had already sent messen- 
gers to summon the sanhedrim ; and as soon as the elders, 
the chief priests, and the scribes were assembled, Jesus was 
led before this supreme council to be tried by Jewish law. 
That law required at least two witne^ises to a crime tiie 
penalty of which was death. The enemies of Jesus had 
trumped up many accusations against him, and witness after 
witness was called ; but no two of them agreed, or the thing 



THE JEWISH TRIAL. 361 



charged was not serious enough to make out a case ; and, for 
reasons already given, the judges, though wishing to condemn 
Jesus, felt bound to keep to the letter of the law. At last 
two witnesses were found who testified that he had said, " I 
am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in 
three days." To the Jews the temple was so sacred, that to 
speak lightly of it, or threaten to injure it, was blasphemy ; 
and this was a sin to be punished by death. But even these 
witnesses told different stories ; and the high priest tried to 
get Jesus to say something that the council could lay hold 
of to condemn him. Jesus, however, would make no reply 
to such witnesses; for he knew that his judges knew he 
had spoken these words at the very time when he had 
shown his zeal for the temple as a holy place by turning out 
the market-men and the money-changers.^ Determined to 
find him guilty, the high priest said to him, " I adjure thee 
by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the 
Christ, the Son of God." Jesus answered, " Thou hast said," 
— meaning "Thou sayest truly," or, "I am He;" and, 
though they would not now believe nor accept in evidence 
the truths he had spoken and the works he had done, yet 
the time should come when they must see him as their King 
and Judge. " I say unto you. Hereafter shall ye see the 

1 John ii. 19. It is an incidental proof of the genuineness of 
John's Gospel, that he alone gives the time and place of the saying of 
Jesus that was brought against him by the false witnesses, and which 
Matthew and Mark there report. 



362 JESU8 OP NAZARETH. 

Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming 
in the clouds of heaven." 

At these words the high priest rent his clothes in token 
of his horror at such " blasphemy.'' And blasphemy indeed 
it was if Jesus was nothing but a common man. The high 
priest looked for a Christ who should come from heaven as 
the Son of God ; and Jesus declared himself to be all that 
Caiaplias meant by that title, and also to have at his disposal 
the power and glor}' of heaven. This was the same thing 
for which they once took up stones to stone him, — liecause, 
*' being man, he made himself God.'' And here in the most 
solemn circumstances, when he knew that his life was at 
stake, and when he might have saved liimself by explaining 
away his words, and rejecting the sense his enemies had put 
upon them, Jesus did nevertheless with perfect clearness 
and calmness accept the title of the Christ, declare himself 
to bo the Son of God, and his place to be the right hand of 
the power of God. As the " Son of David '* he had entered 
Jerusalem in triumph; as the "Son of God'* ho would die 
upon the cross ; as the *' Son of man " he would come again 
in tlie clouds of heaven, — in each and all ** the Christ." At 
these words the whole council cried out, " He is guilty of 
death ; " and, so far as it lay in their power, ho wa.^ con- 
demned. 

The servants and soldiers were quick in taking up the 
feelings of the council toward their prisoner. It was rare 



THE JEWISH TRIAL. 363 



sport for them, that this weak and helpless man should be 

the Christ; and they took the vilest ways to show their 

contempt. They spit in his face ; they blindfolded him, and 

then struck him, and said, "Prophesy unto us, thou Christ: 

who is he that smote thee ? " So far from interfering, the 

judges encouraged this abuse ; for they wanted to rouse the 

spirit of the mob to justify their own action. But . not a 

word, not a cry, not a murmur, did they draw from their 

victim. " He was led as a lamb to the slaughter ; and, as a 

sheep before her shearers is dumb, so opened he not his 

mouth." ^ 

1 Isa. liii. 7. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

PILATE AND HEBOD. 

Two points the sanhedrim had already gained : they had 
found a pretext for condemning Jesus according to Jeirish 
law ; and they had roused agaimit him Uie hatred and con- 
tempt of the low fellows in their service. But, since they 
no longer had power to inflict the penalty of death, they 
must prevail on the Roman governor to order him to be 
crucified, and must hurry up the case before a re-action 
should seize upou the people. So they bound their prisoner, 
and dragged him to the castle of the governor, where he 
had also his hall of judgment. 

At this point the story gives a curious example how the 
most wicked passions and intentions can be mixed with 
religious forms and scruples. At the time of the Paasover 
the Jews were required to keep themselves from ever}' thing 
that theii' religion regarded as unclean. Now, the Roman 
governor was a heathen ; and to go into a heathen court 
would unfit them for the Passover : so they sent in the pris- 
oner for whose blood they thirsted ; but they themselves 

8G4 



PILATE AND HEROD. 365 

went not into the judgment-hall, lest they should be defiled. 
For nearly thirty yeara, or since Archelaus had been set 
aside, Judea had been governed by a procurator sent from 
Rome ; and at this time the ofiSce was held by Pontius Pilate, 
who had held the place for several years. Pilate was ambi- 
tious, and fond of popularity; but, in trying to keep in favor 
at Rome, he had made himself very unpopular with llie 
Jews. He had trampled on their religious feelings by set- 
ting up in Jerusalem the image of the emperor, and by 
taking for common uses some of the sacred treasures of the 
temple ; and more than once he had almost raised an insur- 
rection, and then had put down the mob by severe and even 
cruel measures. The Jews hated him, yet they were will- 
ing to use him as a tool. Many were the complaints of his 
injustice that they had sent to Rome ; but now they sought 
to persuade him to an act of injustice by appealing both to 
his ambition and his fear, since, like all time-serving men, 
Pilate was timid. Yet as a Roman he was trained to respect 
the law ; and when Jesus was brought before him in such 
haste and with such clamor, though this was by the Jewish 
court itself, he insisted upon proceeding according to law 
and evidence. So he came out of the judgment-hall, and 
said to the members of the council, " What accusation bring 
ye against this man? " * The sanhedrim thought they could 
take the governor by storm, that their coming to him in a 

1 John xviii. 29-31. 



366 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

body, bringing for sentence a prisoner whom they had con- 
demned, would be taken as suflficient: so they answered, 
" If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered 
him up to thee.'* Pilate, supposing that this wa« one of 
their religious quarrels in which he did not care to meddle, 
said, " Take ye him, and judge him according to your law." 
They had so many disputes about questions of their law 
which he could not underetand, that he was glad to get rid 
of the case by allowing them to do as they pleased, since he 
knew they would not dare to harm the life of their 
prisoner. But his life was what they were after; and they 
answered, " It is not lawful for us to put any man to death/* 
When they spoke of Jesus as deserving death, Pilate 
thought the case might be more serious than he had sup- 
posed ; and the Jews, knowing that the governor would not 
condemn a prisoner for an offence toward their relijnon, 
trumped up against Jesus political charges, which, if true, 
would make him criminal in the eye of the state. So they 
bep^an to accuse him of sedition, saying, " We found this 
feh. w perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute 
to Caesar, saying that he hunself is Christ, a king.*' Now, 
Pilate knew well enough that in their hearts they hatoil 
Caesar and his taxes, and longed for nothing so much as their 
Messiah to deliver them. But, though he knew their hypoc- 
risy, he wished to pacify them ; since, at the Passover, the 
city was crowded with the more zealous and fanatical Jews, 




JSSVS BEFUUK !' 



PILATE AND HEROD. 367 

and it was difficult to keep the peace when their religiuus 
passions were aroused. Every riot at Jerusalem told at 
liome against the governor ; and as Pilate had his own 
interests much at heart, he knew how to be compromising 
as well as cruel: so now he wished either to got rid of 
this case, or to make the best of it for himself. 

The conversation just reported took place upon the open 
pavement before the judgment-hall. Pilate now went into 
the hall where he had left the prisoner bound, and asked 
Jesus, *' Art thou the King of the Jews?" The answer of 
Jesus showed that he knew Pilate had been put up to this 
question ; * and Pilate replied in a way that showed he had 
no political charge against his prisoner, " Thine own nation 
and the chief priests have delivered thee imto me." But 
they had brought vague charges without proof ; and Pilate 
would not assume the guilt of his prisoner, nor condemn 
Jesus unheard. So, in the hope of getting some facts to go 
upon, he said to him, '* What hast thou done ? " The an- 
swer of Jesus was directly to the point of the charge against 
him, and is one of the most remarkable of his sayings as to 
his life and mission. He at once avowed himself a king, 
and disavowed the charge of setting himself up against the 
civil government. '* My kingdom is not of this world : if 
my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants 
fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews ; but now is 

* John xviiL 35. 



368 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



my kingdom not from hence." He has " a kingdom/' He 
is therefore more than a teacher, a prophet, a reformer : he 
is a king, he has authority, he has servanU, he gives laws, 
he claims to be obeyed, and to have the jiower of giving 
rewards and punishments. In one word, he is the Messiah, 
the Christ promised in the Old Testament a3 the King of the 
Jews. And this kingdom he has already set up in the 
world. He has been preaching of the kingdom of heaven ; 
he has promised its rewards to his foUowere ; he has 
declared that he shall come again as king, in power and 
glory, to judge the world. * And now that the Jewii»h 
council has condemned him to death for blasphemy in 
sayhig that he was the Christ, and Pilate is called upon to 
ratify the sentence and order his execution, he does not 
complain that on this point he has been misquoted or mis* 
understood, does not disclaim the title of ** Christ, a king,** 
but openly and solemnly avows it, and talks about **iii|f 
kingdom '* and '* my servants," as any king might do. But 
this kingdom, though in the world, was not of the worldly 
sort ; thougli in spirit and principles against the worid« it 
was not a fighting kingdom making war upon existing 
governments, nor plotting their overthrow. In the case 
brought before Pilate, the offence or wrong did not lie with 
Jesus in calling himself a king, but with his accusers, in 
perverting his teachings about his kingdom, and charging 
1 Matt. XXV. 31-46. 



PILATE AND HEROD. 369 

him with stirring up the nation to revolt against Caesai*. 
This he denies. He has no intentions against the govern- 
ment, no oflScers, no army, no treasury, nothing of nor for 
this world; but, for all that, he is a king. Pilate is a good 
deal mystified by the reply and the bearing of the prisoner. 
Such a notion of a king and a kingdom had never occurred 
to him. So he asked Jesus again, ** Art thou a king, then? " 
With all the calmness and dignity that these words could 
convey, Jesus answered, ** Thou sayest that I am a king," 
— a king thou callest me, and a king I am. Not one iota 
does he abate from the force and meaning of that title. 
But he will not leave his judge in any doubt of his meaning; 
and he adds, ** To this end was I bom, and for this cause 
came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the 
truth. Every one tliat is of the truth heareth my voice." 
There is a sphere of spiritual things in which truth is as 
certain and as absolute as are facts in the sphere of science. 
In that sphere Jesus, who knew truth as God knows it, who 
spoke the truth of God, and whose life was ti-uth itself, was 
king, and had a right to demand that men should hear his 
voice. Pilate was in part puzzled, in part startled, by these 
words. Perhaps he saw in his prisoner an innocent enthu- 
siast who was possessed with the harmless notion that he 
was a king; perhaps he was awed by the look and manner of 
Jesus, that had so often caused men to tremble at hLs word ; 
perhaps he was pricked in his conscience by the question 



370 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 



whether he cared enough for truth to be willing to do justice 
to his prisoner : and, so musing, he said aloud, ** What is 
truth ? " and went out again to the Jews, and saith unto 
them, "I find in him no fault.'* 

The chief priests and elders began to clamor ;i;:;iiiist Jesus 
with all sorts of accusations, to all which he made no reply. 
His silence caused Pilate to wonder still more at the 
demeanor of the prisoner. After what Jesus had said to 
him of the nature of his kingdom, and of his own spirit 
and intentions as a king, no doubt the charge of sedition 
sounded to the governor al>surd and malicious ; hence it 
seemed strange to him, that the prisoner did not clear him- 
self by a word. But, though urged again and again to 
speak, he yet answered nothing. Jesus knew the temi>er of 
his accusers. They had seized him by stealth and without 
cause ; they would be satisfied with nothing but his life ; 
for this they had brought false charges; and, should he 
answer one lie, they would bring up another: and so he 
threw it upon the conscience of the governor to do him 
justice. Seeing how the case stood, Pilate said to the chief 
priests, in hearing of the crowd of people now gatherod 
round, ''1 find no fault in this man.'' Maddened at the 
thought of losing their victim, the priests shouted in fierce 
tones and with violent gestures, " He stirs up the people 
against CcTsar, from Galilee to Jerusalem." At the mention 
of Galilee, Pilate thought he saw his way out of the diffi- 



PILATE AND HEROD. 371 

culty. His own jurisdiction did not reach northward 
beyond the limita of Samaria, — Herod Antipas, son of 
Herod the Great, being the ruler of Galilee ; and it so hap- 
pened that Herod was at the time in Jerusalem. There 
had been a dispute between Pilate and Herod, which had 
made them enemies ; and Pilate thought he could make a 
friendly advance to Herod by an open maik of respect for 
his authority over one of his own subjects, and at the same 
time could get rid of an unwelcome prisoner. So he sent 
Jesus to Herod ; but, though he gained Herod's friendship, 
the prisoner came back on his hands. 

Herod was glad enough to have Jesus brought before him, 
and to sit in state with his guaid, with such a prisoner at his 
bar; but he had no notion of acting the part of a judge. 
Ever since his murder of John the Baptist, Herod had been 
troubled with reports about Jesus and his wonderful works. 
At first he feared that he was John the Baptist risen from 
the dead ; ^ but at last, with a mixture of superetition and 
vanity, he was eager to see this famous prophet, to hear what 
his doctrines were, and especially to see some miracle done 
by him. Now, he thought, this wish could be gratified : so 
he attempted to draw Jesus out by many questions ; " but he 
answered him nothing." * The chief priests and scribes 
were determined not to lose their victim through any change 
of his judges, or any halting in their action. At last they 

1 Matt. xiv. 1, 2. 2 Luke xxiii. 8-10. 



372 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

had him in their power ; they had condemned him as worthy 
of death ; and they had no notion of allowing him to be 
sent off to Galilee. So they ran after the guard to Herod *8 
palace, and there began to accuse Jesus in the most violent 
terms. Herod saw that he could make nothing out of tlie 
case. Jesus showed no fear of his authority, no wish for 
his favor, no disposition to gratify him with a show of 
wonders: so, setting him down for an enthusiast, Herod 
began to make sport of him ; and his officers and soldiers 
were quick to follow his example. Jesus was accused of 
making himself a king: so they put on him one of their 
own showy cloaks to make fun of his royalty, and with 
mocking cheei-s and salutations sent him back to Pilate. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

JESU8, OB BARABBAS. 

Though Pilate was pleaded that he had made Herod his 
friend, ho did not at all thank him for sending back his 
prisoner. Still he could now fortify himself by Herod's 
opinion ; and so he resolved to do the prisoner justice by 
setting him free. Accordingl}' he summoned again the san- 
hedrim, — and by this time a great crowd had gathered to 
watch the proceedings, — and gave his decision, that openly 
in their presence he had examined Jesus upon the charge 
which they had brouglit against him, of stirring up the 
people to revolt, " but had found no fault " in him ; and that 
Herod also had examined him, but had found nothing that 
called for the sentence of death which the sanhedrim 
demanded. Thus in the most public and formal manner, by 
the chief authority of the Roman Government in Judea, 
after an open and searching examination, Jesus was pro- 
nounced innocent of any political offence that called for 
punishment by the civil power. Had there been the least 
evidence that he was stirring up rebellion, or making the 

878 



374 JESUS OF NAZABETH. 



people discontented with Roman rule, Pilate and Herod 
would have made capital for themselves at Leadiiuartew by 
inflicting upon him the sentence of death. But he waa 
acquitted on this very cliarge. Hence all attempts to 
explain away the crucifixion of Jesus, as due to political or 
state charges, fall to the ground. 

It was the duty of Pilate, having pronounced Jeans inno- 
cent, to set him free, and protect him against any Tiolenoa 
from the mob. He saw clearly where the right of tlie 
matter lay ; and he wished as a judge to do his duty by the 
prisoner, for he was satisfied that, the charges against him 
had been trumped up hy malice. But at the same time be 
was anxious for the favor of the Jews ; and to appease them 
he offered to Siicrificc his prisoner to thoir hate 80 (mr as 
to chastise him before releasing him. This was a gross 
injustice ; and, so far from relieving Pilate from his dilemma, 
it led him on to the fatal step that he wii»hed to avoid. 
Seeing that Pilate was vacillating, the crowd grew more 
violent in its outcries, demanding that Jesus should be sen- 
tenced. The governor, who was fast losing the character of 
the judge in that of the politician, now thought of another 
expedient for saving the prisoner. In some way, — perhaps 
as a concession to the national feeling of the Jews on the 
part of their conquerors, — the custom had grown up of 
releasing to the people at the Passover any prisoner whom 
they should choose. The governor thought to take adran- 



JESUS, OR BAEABBAS. 375 

tage of this custom for releasing Jesus ; and, to make sure of 
his point, he set up by contrast a notorious criminal named 
Barabbas. The sanhediim had accused Jesus of stirring up 
the people to sedition ; and for this the}' demanded that he 
should be put to death. Well, if they really wished to show 
their loyalty by making sedition a capital crime, here was 
Barabbas already condemned to die for the crime of which 
Jesus was proved innocent ; for there was no doubt that 
Barabbas had made an insurrection, and had committed 
robbery and murder in the fray. By setting up this man in 
contrast with the meek and inoffensive Jesus, Pilate thought 
to shame the crowd into some sense of justice and humanity ; 
so he asked them, '' Whom will ye that I release unto you ? 
Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?" To give the 
formality of law to the release of a prisoner, Pilate now 
sat down on the judgment-seat. At this moment he was 
startled by a message from his wife, that she had been much 
troubled about Jesus in a dream, and begging her husband 
to " have nothing to do with that just man." But he had 
already gone too far. By taking the populace into his 
counsels, he had committed himself to be bound by their 
wishes: in offering to scourge a prisoner whom he had 
declared innocent, he had- tampered with the spirit that 
thirsted for the prisoner's blood. Prompted by the chief 
priests, the mob now began to cry out for the release 
of Barabbas. " But what, then," asked Pilate, " shall I do 



376 JESUS OF NAZAJIETH. 

with Jesus, whom ye call the Kmg of the Jews ? '* Startled 
and shocked by tlie maddening cry, ** Crucify him, crucify 
him ! " Pilate strove again and again to pacify them, 8a}ing, 
" Why, what evil hath he done ? I have found no cause of 
death in him." Unhappy man ! to what a pass he had 
brought himself by once wavering from his-<luty ! Here be 
was interceding with a mob for the life of a prisoner whom 
he had found innocent, and was bound to release and 
protect. As often as he put in a plea that Jesus might be 
spared, the cry went up the more fiercely, " Crucify him, 
crucify him I " till the tumult was growing dangerous. At 
last, in a fit of weakness, he sought to shift tbe res|K)nsibility 
from himself to them. *'He took water, and washed his 
hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the 
blood of this just person: see ye to it/' With one voice tbe 
people cried, *' Ilis blood be on us and on our children • 
and, to pacify them, he set Barabba^s free, and dcliverti 
Jesus to be scourged. This brutal and needless torture of 
one condemned to be crucified was quite common under 
Roman law. The prisoner was made fast with cords to a 
frame or post; his back was stripped bare; and he was 
beaten with knotted thongs till he was ready to faint, and 
even to die, through pain and loss of blood. So Jeeua w« 
scourged before the jeering crowd. Then, with his back torn 
and bleeding, he was given over to the soldiers for their 
rough sport. They gathered all their comrades around J»ua, 




The Scouroing. 



JESUS, OR BARABBAS. 377 

stripped off the rest of his clothing, and put on him a scarlet 
robe ; they platted a crown of thorns, and put this upon his 
head ; they put a reed in his right hand ; and, having thus 
arrayed him in mock royalty, they bowed the knee before 
him, and mocked him, saying, " Hail, King of the Jews ! " 
When they had given vent to their ridicule, they let loose 
their malice : they smote him with their hands ; they spit 
upon him ; they took the reed that they had given him as a 
sceptre, and struck him with it on the head. Pilate was so 
moved at these cruelties that he interfered, and appealed to 
the compassion of the people, saying, "Behold the man!" 
But he could not chain up the tiger that he had loosed. 
Louder and fiercer came the crv, " Crucify him, crucify 
him ! " — " But I find no fault in him," said Pilate. " We too 
have a law," they cried ; though you do not allow us to 
punish, we can judge and condemn; "and by our law he 
ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." 
That title roused again the superstitious fears of Pilate; and 
lie led Jesus apart to learn of him whence he came. But 
Jesus, who was still smarting under the injustice of Pilate, 
would have nothing to say to a judge who had thrice pro- 
nounced him innocent, and then had ordered him to be 
scourged. His dignified silence under falsehood, wrong, 
cruelty, insult, was itself a testimony to his character ; but 
Pilate, fearing that his authority should be slighted if the 
bystanders saw how the prisoner refused to answer him, 



378 JESUS OF NAZABETH. 

tried to threaten Jesus by a show of his jK)wer. " Speakest 
thou not to me ? Knowest thou not that I have power to 
crucify thee, and have power to release thee ? " Now the 
prisoner spoke ; the abuse of his person, the threat of his lifct 
could not move him ; he would endure in silence all manner 
of injustice and evil against himself: but the power of life 
and death was in the hands of his Father ; and thin boast of 
Pilate was an insult to the divine majesty, that JesuB felt 
called to rebuke. Just as in the garden he had surrendered 
himself not to the Roman legion, but to the will of hia 
Father, who could have sent legions of angels to deliver 
him, so now he should be put to death Uirough his rolmi- 
tary obedience to tliat same divine will that had ruled hia 
life. " Thou couldest have no power at all against me, 
except it were given ihee from above: therefore he that 
delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin." The chief 
priests and scribes had means of judging the true mission of 
Jesus, which Pilate as a Gentile could not possess: their 
guilt was greater than his, which was simply that of in- 
justice to a prisoner whom he did not know. This appeal 
at once to the conscience of Pilate as guilty of an unjust 
judgment, and to the source to which he was responsible 
for his power and the use of it, attended as it was by the 
majestic look of the Son of God, so awed the weak-princi- 
pled governor that he sought by all means to recover Jesus 
from the enemies to whom he had surrendered him. But 



JESUS, OR BARABBAS. 379 

the Jews thwarted his wish by appealing on the other side to 
his love of place and power : " If thou let this man go, thou 
art not Caesar's friend. Whosoever maketh himself a king 
speaketh against Ciesar." The hypocrites! as Pilate knew 
them to be, — at that moment longing for nothing so mucli 
as a Messiah who shoidd break the yoke of Rome, yet 
demanding that Jesus should be put to death upon the 
charge of sedition they had trumped up against him ! The 
crisis could no longer be delayed : Pilate must either yield 
to the mob, or risk their hatred being used to oust him from 
office for screening a rebel. For a few moments the conflict 
waxed fiercer and fiercer between his reluctance and their 
rage, his sense of justice and his love of power ; the more 
furious their outcries, the more feeble his remonstrance : — 

** Behold your king." 

*^ Away with him, away with him ! Crucify him I " 

" Shall I crucify your king? " 

" We have no king but Caesar. Away ! away ! Crucify ! '* 

Then Pilate delivered Jesus unto them to be crucified. 



CHAPTER XXXVin. 

THE TRAITOR. 

The order to crucify Jesus, that filled the Pharisees with 
triumph, and gave a brutal sport to the soldiers and the 
mob, struck one of the bystanders with terror and des|)air. 
The bribe that Judas had taken for betraying his Lord now 
burnt his hands, burnt into his soul : he loathed the sight 
of it, loathed the thought of it, felt the guilt and shame of 
it ; must get rid of it, if so be he can cancel his crime, and 
save its victim. One can hardly believe that money alone 
tempted Judas to betray Jesus i for covetous as he was, and 
accustomed to pilfer from the little store that the apostles 
had for their purchases and charities, thirty sliekels, or 
twenty dollars, seems too paltry a motive to such a crime: 
though some disciples nowadays will do very mean things 
for very small gains I Judas may have joined Jesus at the 
first from mixed motives of religious enthusiasm and worldly 
gain, Avith a zeal for the Messiah's kingtlom, and a belief 
that Jesus would prove to be the nation's hope, in which 
event it would be a good thing to have l>een among liis 

380 



THE TRAITOR. 381 



earliest adherents. He so far won the confidence of tlie 
little band that he was made its treasurer, and kept the bag. 
But as time rolled by, and Jesus made no demonstration 
toward a kingdom, but lived on in poverty, and grew more 
severe in his teachings, Judas was so disappointed as to his 
Master's character and purposes, and as to his own ambitious 
hopes, and moreover was so piqued at the pei-sonal reproofs 
of Jesus, and the preference shown to Peter, James, and 
John, that he resolved to break from what he felt to be 
a losing concern, and to bring matters to a head by a direct 
issue between Jesus and the sanhedrim. At the same time 
he would gratify his covetousness by a little gain. Still he 
could not rid himself of anxiety fur the result of his 
scheme : so he hovered round the trial to see how things 
would turn. The abuse and cruelty to which Jesus was 
subjected, and his meekness and patience under injury, had 
told already on the traitor's heart. None knew better than 
he how perfectly innocent Jesus was of all that was charged 
against him ; and, when he saw that he was condemned, the 
shame of his own share in the transaction seized him so 
strongly that he humed to rescue his Master, if possible, by 
proclaiming the innocence of Jesus, confessing his own sin, 
and paying back the bribe ; at least, he hoped thus to rid 
himself of a responsibility which had begun to torment him. 
" He brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief 
priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have 



382 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

betrayed innocent blood." But the priests cared nothing 
for guilt or innocence, for Judas or Jesus. They had used 
Judas as a tool, and, having gained their object, were ready 
to throw him away in contempt. " What is that to us ? 
see thou to that." This answer drove the poor wretch to 
despair. " He cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, 
and departed, and went and hanged himself." 

But the sanctimonious Pharisees, however much they 
might pollute their soids with the passion of murder, would 
not pollute the treasury with the price of blood. So they 
bought with it a ''potter's field to bury strangers in ;" but 
the common people, knowing the story, called it "Aceldama, 
the Field of Blood." 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE LAST HOUR. 

The cross was ready. Crucifixion being a common mode 
of punishment with the Romans, and especially for slaves 
and the worst class of criminals, the instrument was 
always at hand, in charge of officers of the law. Upon this 
day three thieves were to be crucified; but the chief of 
them, Barabbas, had been set free by the choice of the 
people, and his cross was ready for Jesus. Modern govern- 
ments that retain capital punishment endeavor to make the 
scene of execution solemn and dignified, rather than revolt- 
ing and terrible. While inflicting justice upon the criminal, 
they guard him from outrage and cruelty : the gallows is the 
symbol of law in a sad but sacred act of duty, not of 
passion let loose for revenge. But among the Romans the 
criminal sentenced to the cross was given over to the sport 
of the executioners and the mob. The cross was set up on 
elevated ground, or by the side of a public road ; and the 
abuse that the rabble might pour upon him on the way, and 
the reviling of passers-by as he hung upon the tree, were 



384 JESUS OP NAZABETH. 



part of the shame and suffering of this dreadful punbhroent 
Still the roughest natures have freaks of compMsioii ; and, 
when Roman law had delivered a criminal to this death 
of ignominy and torture, it did not interfere with acta of 
pity or of kindness to which hystanders might be moved 
in Ills behalf. "" In Jerusalem there was a society of ladies 
which provided a beverage of mixed myrrh and vin^ar, 
that, like an opiate, benumbed the man when he was being 
carried to execution." * As in modem times, a jailer or 
executioner sometimes shows marked humanity and gentle- 
ness in his treatment of a prisoner, so among the Romans 
there might be a centurion wliose feelings would be tender 
and considerate toward the criminal he was guarding upon 
the cross. The soldiers had mocked Jesus with the purple 
robe, the reed in liis right hand, the crown of thorns upon 
his brow. Kow they stripped off the robe, and put his own 
clothes on him ; they took away the reed, but left the crown 
of thorns, the drops of blood trickling from his brow upon 
his breast ; and so they led him out to crucify him. 

It was the custom for the condemned to carry his cross 
upon his shoulder, from the prison or the place of y 
to the place of crucifixion. The cross, however, was noi' 
high nor so heayj as it is made to appear in the representa-i 
tions of art. The upright post was some twelve or fifteen 
feet high, the feet of the victim resting upon a bracket at a 
» Deutsch, The Talmud, p. S8. 



i 







I I 



I k 



IB 



THE LAST HOUE. 385 



little distance above the ground. The transverse piece was 
sometimes fastened at the top of the post, in the form of the 
letter T, in which case he hung with his arms stretched 
almost perpendicularly above him ; sometimes it was in- 
serted into the post at some distance below the top, in 
which case the arms were stretched out laterally. The 
carrying of the cross was meant to aggravate the punish- 
ment of the victim, both as a mark of disgrace, and by 
reminding him along the way of the pain he must soon 
suffer. The two thieves, with their coarse and blunted 
natures, would care little for this; but to the sensitive 
frame of Jesus every step was as the driving of a nail, a 
fresh indignity to his gentle and holy soul. 

But so the procession starts, — three men each bearing his 
cross, each surrounded with a guard of soldiers, and with a 
great crowd of people running together from all parts of the 
city ; for the streets are astir with strangers on their way to 
the temple, and the news of the arrest and condemnation of 
Jesus has already spread to every quarter. It is half an 
hour from the governor's palace near the temple to the place 
of crucifixion outside the city gate ; and every foot of the 
way, and every house along the route, is filled with specta- 
tors. For this is no ordinary execution. The two thieves 
get hardly a moment's notice, and hence escape much of the 
abuse and petty torture they would have suffered from a 
common rabble. The crowd is bent upon seeing Jesus ; but 



386 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

with what various emotions and cries do they press upon 
him I In that "great company of people'' are many who 
the other day were shouting, " Hosanna to the King of 
Israel," but who are now mocking and hooting at the king 
crowned with thorns. Some who waved palm-branches 
over his head now try to get near enough to smite him with 
their staves. It is only Friday : yet the uproar of shame is 
as great as was the uproar of triumph on Monday, when he 
came in at the opposite gate of the city. But this stirring 
of the people is as welcome and hopeful to priests and 
Pharisees as that was hateful and ominous. But other cries 
mingle with these shouts of derision. In the crowd are 
some in whom the sense of justice is strong enough to cry 
out against this outrage to an innocent man ; others there are 
who remember his words of truth and kindness, or still have 
a strange awe of him as indeed the Christ ; and many are 
there whom he has healed of their infirmities, or whose 
friends he has recovered from disease and death. Tliese 
force their way up to the very cross with wailing and lamen- 
tation ; and even that rough crowd gives way to the women 
who press forwai-d with bitter cries ; for was ever a soldier 
void of pit}' for a woman in distress ? But here, as at the 
moment of his arrest, Jesus alone maintains his composure. 
This man seemingly so weak and helpless, about to die, his 
flesh still quivering with the gory stripes, his brow bleeding 
afresh with the puncture of the thorns, his body too weak to 



THE LAST HOUR. 387 



drag any longer the weight of the cross, now looks about 
him with the compassion of the Saviour, with the majesty 
of the judge, with the sweet and tender dignity of self- 
forgetting love, and says, '' Daughters of Jerusalem, weep 
not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 
For behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall 
say. Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, 
and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin 
to say to the mountains. Fall on us ; and to the hills. Cover 
us. For, if they do these things in a green tree, what shall 
be done in a dry ? " He who would have been to Jerusalem 
the green, fruitful tree of life and salvation, Jerusalem in 
her priests and rulers has thus set upon to hew down and 
destroy. What, then, shall be the fate of Jerusalem herself, 
when as a dry, withered tree she shall be cast out to be 
trodden under foot, and burnt ? Alas for the women who 
shall be alive at that day to witness its woes for themselves 
and their children ! His heart forgets its own griefs in pity 
for theirs. At the moment when he is about to be lifted up 
as a sacrifice for the world's redemption, he pronounces the 
fate of Jerusalem fixed and sealed. Once more the prophet 
speaks ; but the compassion of the Saviour rises above the 
severity of the Judge. 

It was while he was thus speaking that Jesus was relieved 
of the burden of his cross. It is no wonder that a moment 
before he had sunk under its weight. For twelve hours, — 



388 JESUS OF NAZABETH. 



since the supper with his disciples, — he had not tasted 
food ; for thirty hours he had had no sleep. In that time he 
had taken leave of the dear family at Bethany ; had gone 
through the trying scene of parting with his disciples in 
anticipation at the last supper ; had endured the agony of 
Gethsemane ; had been seized and dragged about by sol- 
diers ; had undergone three trials ; had been buffeted, 
mocked, spit upon, tortured, his back with stripes, his brew 
with thorns ; and all the while his spirit weighed down with 
the thought that men could so abuse the truth and love 
of God. That he sank under the cross, was a witness how 
tenderly human was the frame that bore this di\dne spirit of 
sacrifice. 

It was near the city gate that Jesus fell ; and, touched 
with pity, the soldiers, instead of compelling him to drag 
the burden farther, took advantage of a stout countryman 
coming in at the gate, and laid the cross upon his shoulders, 
'' that he might bear it after Jesus." That sen'ice of com- 
pulsion, perhaps of painful drudgery, has made Simon the 
Cyrenian immortal in legend, in art, and in song. 

But the procession has come to a halt. There, just with- 
out the gate, where aU passing in and out can see the spec- 
tacle, is the place of public execution, made so ghastly by 
the frequent horrors of crucifixion, that the people Cidl it 
" The place of a skull." Here the three crosses are laid 
down ; and, before the condemned are nailed to them, the 




I II HOSl 



TiiEV CAST L<"tT>< FOR His Vesti kk. 



THE LAST HOUR. 389 



cup of vinegar and myrrh is mercifully offered to each. But 
Jesus will not drink of it, since the cup of bitterness and 
death that his Father has given him must be drunk with a 
conscience clear, willing, and patient to the end. The 
soldiers now strip him naked, and stretch him upon the 
cross, placing his body on the wooden pin, or rest, provided 
for its support. They drive a nail through each hand, bind 
the feet with a cord, and fasten both with one nail to the 
wood, then lift up the cross, and drop it into its place with 
a shock that makes the whole frame quiver with agony. 
But no groan nor sigh escapes the lips of Jesus. They 
part for a moment in that prayer which is wreathed about 
the cross in a perpetual incense of mercy, " Father, forgive 
them, for they know not what they do." 

The clothing of the condemned was a perquisite of the 
soldiers ; and four soldiers were stationed at the foot of 
each cross as a guard. As soon as the cross was planted, the 
soldiers began to look out for their rewards. The under- 
clothes of Jesus they divided into four parts of about equal 
value ; and then they cast lots for the outside garment, 
which was a long mantle woven throughout without a 
seam. It was common to nail up at the top of the cross the 
offence for which the criminal was executed. But Pilate, 
who had thrice declared Jesus innocent, prepared as the 
accusation to be set up over his head the simple statement, 
Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This 



390 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. His Jewish 
persecutors, fearing lest they should in fact be condemned 
by the very form of his sentence, hastened to Pilate, and 
begged him to change the title to, " He said, I am King 
of the Jews." But, though the governor had yielded to the 
temptation of popularity, at heart he remained true to his 
first convictions ; and he answered, " What I have written, 
I have written ; " and so a heathen ruler certified to all 
generations that the crucified Nazarene was the Christ. 

Crowds were coming and going along the highway ; and 
these railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, *' Ah, 
thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three 
days ! save thyself, and come down from the cross." Tlie 
chief priests, who should have set an example of decency and 
moderation, and whose religious office should have taught 
them compassion even for the woi-st criminal, were there 
mocking him, saying, " He saved others: himself he cannot 
save. Let Christ, the King of Israel, descend now fi-om the 
cross, that we may see and believe." For three hours does 
Jesus hang there in silence, hearing these taunts and revil- 
ings, his life slowly ebbing away under the tortures of his 
body and the griefs of his soul. At noon the soldiers take 
their rude meal of coarse bread and sour wine ; and, catching 
the spirit of the Jews, they join in the mockery, and hold up 
theu' cups to him, saying, " If thou be the King of the Jews, 
save thyself." And, as if it were not enough that the com- 



THE LAST HOUE. 391 



mon people, the officers of religion, and the officers of law, 
pour out their abuse upon him, one of the very thieves on 
the cross at his side begins to rail at him, saying, '' If thou 
be Christ, save thyself and us." But neither the ignominy 
of the cross, nor the filthy jests and sneers of the mob, nor 
the blood oozing from his forehead, can obscure that majesty 
of look in Jesus which again and again had smitten his 
enemies with an awe of his presence ; and the other male- 
factor, noting that look and remembering the prayer of 
forgiveness, is so subdued with the sense of something in 
his fellow-sufferer which is not of earth, that he rebukes his 
comrade, saying, " Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art 
in the same condemnation? and Ave indeed justly, for we 
receive the due reward of our deeds ; but this man hath done 
nothing amiss." Then, turning from penitence and con- 
fession to faith and adoration, he cries to Jesus, " Lord, 
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." With 
a voice full of heavenly love and the consciousness of 
almighty power, Jesus answers, '' Verily I say unto thee. 
To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." 

There is a love that no sorrows can quench, no cruelties 
intimidate, no force restrain ; and so the mother of Jesus is 
by the cross. She is attended by her sister, by Mary Mag- 
dalene, and by " the disciple whom he loved." And He who 
has just declared his sovereignty over the future world, has 
accepted the homage of the penitent thief, and promised 



392 JESUS OF NAZAKETH. 

him a place in paradise, now thrills with the tenderest of 
human sympathies, fixes his loving gaze upon mother and 
friend, and says to her, Behold thy son ; and, to him, Behold 
thy mother. Fulfilliug this precious testament of love, 
" from that hour that disciple took her to his own home." 

It is high noon, but the sun has ceased to mark the hour. 
A darkness such as history sometimes records as veiling 
heaven and earth, and terrifying the animal creation, is 
spread over all the land. The mob is hushed; for three 
hours the soldiers watch in silence and in fear. Then a cry 
almost of despair breaks the gloom : it is the cry of a soul 
that feels itself compassed about with the darkness of death 
and of hell, — '' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
me!" He is in the death-agony of thirst. Some, half mock- 
ing, pretend that he is calling for Elias ; but a soldier, more 
compassionate, reaches to him a sponge dipped in vinegar. 
He moistens his lips ; the darkness vanishes ; with clear con- 
sciousness he says, " It is finished : " then with a last cry of 
faith and victory, " Father, into thy hands I commend my 
spirit," he bows his head, and gives up the ghost. 

The earth quakes, splitting the rocks, and rending the 
veil of the temple. Smitten with awe, the centurion cries, 
" Truly this man was the Son of God." Yes ! all signs 
attest him now. The Roman governor certifies his king- 
ship ; the Roman soldier owns his divinity ; the dying thief 
woi-ships him as Lord; and Jesus, with arms outstretched 



\ 




THE LAST HOUR. 393 



upon the cross, dispenses pardon to enemies, paradise to 
penitents ; links himself to earth through love of his mother, 
and to heaven through faith in his Father. All that he 
came to be and to do is finished on the cross. 

To us there is a significance in the very instrument 
of his death. Had Jesus been stoned as were prophets 
of old, as Stephen was by the mob ; had he been burnt 
at the stake as martyrs have been burnt in liis name ; 
had he been beheaded as was John the BajDtist, — we should 
have remembered his dying, and perhaps have commemo- 
rated the day of his death, but could have had 'no visible 
symbol of his suffering. But he was crucified ; and the 
cross was peculiarly a Roman instrument of punishment ; 
and, as the Romans in that time reserved to themselves the 
death penalty in Judea, the very letter of prophecy was ful- 
filled in the manner of his dying, in that he was "lifted up." 
But this Roman mode of punishment passed away with the 
Roman power ; and now for ages in the wide world nowhere 
has the cross been used for the execution of a criminal. 
Long has it ceased to have these common associations of 
crime and shame ; and now, separated from all other instru- 
ments of torture and of punishment, it stands before the 
world exalted and glorified, its outstretched arms a symbol 
of divine love in sacrifice reaching forth to embrace the 
world it would redeem. 



CHAPTER XL. 

HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD. 

That a man should rise from the dead, is the greatest of 
wonders. The beginning of life would perhaps Ije to us as 
great a wonder, if we could witness that ; yet we are so 
familiar with the fact of life through natural laws, and the 
fact of death from natural causes, that we seldom tlmik of 
any thing wonderful in either. But when life has ceased, 
and death ensued, we know of no natural force or cause that 
could nullif}' death and restore life in the same body. If we 
were told that such a thing had taken place, — that a dead 
man had come to hfe again, — we should receive the state- 
ment with great caution ; should assume that the person 
was not really dead, but in a stupor or trance, or that the 
witnesses were deceived through their senses or their imagi- 
nation. The course of experience, and the nature of the 
case, are so strongly against the probability of one's rising 
from the dead, that we are ready to say with Thomas, 
" Except I see it with my own eyes, I will not believe." 
But we forget that, in that case, we should expect othei*s to 

89i 



HE BOSE FKOM THE DEAD. 395 

believe upon our testimony ; we forget that the thing itself 
could not be repeated so as to satisfy everybody's doubts, 
and that there must come a point where such a fact, just 
like any other, must be taken upon testimon}^ without 
requiring the evidence of our own senses. However strong 
may be our feeling against the probability of one's rising 
from the dead, we must admit the possibility of such an 
event by the direct power of God. If, now, a reason should 
appear for such a miracle ; if it should be put forth to 
confirm some truth most needful, some promise most helpful 
to men, and this a truth, a promise, to which God only could 
give certainty, — then this moral reason for faith in God 
himself would prepare the way for believing in the outward 
wonder as from God. The moral reason could not, indeed, 
prove the miracle as a fact ; but, by bringing it into harmony 
with other facts showing God's love to man, this moral basis 
for a special act of God's power would so far remove the 
improbability of the miracle as to open the way for our be- 
lieving it upon such testimony as we accept for any strange 
event. Now, Jesus came to teach the eternal life of the 
soul, and the way of salvation for sinners through the grace 
of God. The truth he taught, the promise he gave, of such 
unspeakable value to men, were such as only God could 
make known with entire certainty. Hence we can at least 
feel or imagine, that, if ever such a thing as rising from the 
dead could be, it was most proper, and exactly in place, in 



396 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

connection with the life and death of Jesus. When we set 
vividly before us his person, his character, his teachings, his 
acts ; when we look at this one soUtary example of perfect 
truth, perfect wisdom, perfect goodness, whose whole being 
was to bless and save ; when we consider the infinite moment 
of his message to men, — we feel not only that his djing on 
the cross was an outrage and a crime, but that it was some- 
how an incongruity that he should die at all, that his per- 
fect life should be marred by the touch of death.* Had 
Jesus resolved himself into pure spirit, and risen.to the skies, 
or had he gone up to heaven in clouds of glory, we should 
have felt that the triumph which poets and painters picture 
for heroes and martyrs after death was proper to him with- 
out dying. Hence, when we read that he rose from the 
dead, there is a congruity between such an outward wonder, 
and the moral wonder of his life, that makes the fact credi- 
ble. Indeed, the miracle, that seems to disturb the harmony 

1 Death, as the going-out of animal life, belongs to the course of 
nature; and in this sense it may be said to be as inseparable from an 
organic bod}' as is the notion of birth or growth. But death as a human 
experience, -with all that it means to a creature of such affections, hopes, 
desires, imaginings, as man, is represented in the Bible as an indignity 
put upon man, — a brand of degradation because of sin (Gen. iii. 3, 19; 
Rom. V. 12). Hence, when at length a man appeared who lived without 
sin, it seems not fitting that he should die like other men. In such a 
case, the course of nature was against the higher reason of things, and 
required to be reversed, to restore the harmony of truth, goodness, and 
life. We feel such a death to be a wrong tliat must be righted. 



HE ROSE FEOM THE DEAD. 397 

of nature, restores the harmony of a hfe so rudely broken 
by the cross, and reveals the higher harmony of the spirit- 
world, where truth, purity, love, live on unhurt of evil, 
untouched by decay. 

Jesus had promised to rise from the dead. Again and 
again he told his disciples that he should be crucified, and 
should rise on the third day ; and, in his tender discourse at 
the last supper, he comforted them with the assurance that 
in " a little while" they should see him again. He also made 
the proof of his mission hang upon his rising in three days.^ 
Nothing is clearer than that Jesus himself was possessed 
with the idea that he should rise from the dead. If he did 
not rise, then for years he lived and acted under an illusion, 
and such an illusion as in any other person we should call 
the fancy of a crazed brain. If this were indeed a fancy, 
an illusion, how much would it take away from the moral 
force of his teachings and character ! But it is simply im- 
possible to reconcile with his wisdom, his clearness, his 
calmness, his dignity, his majesty; in one word, to recon- 
cile with himself as man and as teacher, — the notion that 
he spent his life under an illusion. 

If Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, the fact was one 
that could be attested beyond a possibility of mistake ; for 
it must have come under the senses of those who were 
familiar with his person. It could be made just as clear 

1 John ii. 19. 



398 JESFS OF NAZARETH. 

as any fact of history or of physical science, that rests 
upon the evidence of the senses. Now, the narrative 
of the resurrection in the Gospels is so simple, straight- 
forward, and clear, that it carries within itself the marks of 
truth. The witnesses were capable of knowing the facts ; 
they had no motive for making up the story ; their whole 
after-course was shaped by the fact that Jesus had risen ; 
and they were ready to stake their lives upon having seen 
him alive after his crucifixion. That Jesus was dead, there 
could be no doubt. That fact was settled by the officers of 
the law before his body was taken down from the cross. It 
was quite usual to break the legs of a criminal on the cross, 
in order to hasten his death, and put an end to his misery. 
The Jews, not willing to have these bodies hanging before 
the city gate on the high sabbath of the Passover, obtained 
from Pilate an order that their legs should be broken, and 
they should be taken down from the cross. The soldiers 
broke the legs of the two thieves; but, when they came to 
Jesus, they saw that he was dead already : so they did not 
break his legs ; but, to make all sure, one of the soldiers 
pierced his side with a spear, and forthwith there came out 
blood and water. Pilate also satisfied himself from the 
centurion that Jesus was dead, before he commanded the 
bod}' to be delivered to Joseph of Arimathea.* This 

1 A good witness for the historical fact of the death of Jesus is the 
Roman historian Tacitus, who was so careful and conscientious in look- 



HE EOSE FROM THE DEAD. 399 

Joseph was a man of wealth and distinction, a member of 
the Great Council, who had opposed its sentence against 
Jesus, being at heart one of his disciples. Danger gives 
some men courage ; and both Joseph and Nicodemus, who 
had kept back their faith in Jesus for fear of the Jews, 
came openly forward to honor him after his death. Joseph 
owned a garden near the place of crucifixion ; and there he 
had just had a new tomb hewn out of the living rock, in 
which no one had yet been laid. Having prepared the body 
in the usual way, with linen and spices, he laid it in the 
sepulchre, closed the door with a great stone, and went 
home. 

The shock of the death of Jesus had driven from the 
minds of his disciples his promise that he would rise again. 
Indeed, they do not seem at any time to have taken in that 
idea in its real significance, nor to have rested their faith 
and hope upon it under the trial of parting ; and hence, 

ing up facts for his " Annals." He had the strong prejudices of a Pagan 
philosopher against Christians and their faith; hence his testimony to 
the facts that Christ was crucified, and that his religion immediately 
after began to spread, has greater weight than if he were a partisan. In 
B. XV. chap. 44, of the " Annals," Tacitus narrates that Nero falsely 
charged the guilt of setting fire to Rome to ' ' the persons commonly 
called Christians;" then he adds, " Christus, the founder of that name, 
was put to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea, 
in the reign of Tiberius. But the pernicious superstition, repressed for 
a time, broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief 
originated, but through the city of Rome also." 



400 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

instead of staying near the tomb, and watching for some 
strange event, they thought only of the dead body, and 
went away, and prepared spices and ointments for that. But, 
trained in the strictness of the Jewish sabbath, they did not 
go on that day to the sepulchre even for the purpose of 
embalming the body, but " rested the sabbath-day according 
to the commandment." Meanwhile the body of Jesus was 
under the watch of his enemies. Recalling his saying that 
after three days he would rise again, the chief priests and 
Pharisees thought his disciples might '* come by night, and 
steal him away, and sa}^ to the people. He is risen from the 
dead," and so make them more trouble than he had caused 
them in his life. This was a most absurd notion. It was 
then the full moon ; the nights were as bright as day ; the 
city was crowded with people within and without; the tomb 
was near the city wall, and not far from the highway ; the 
only access was by the door, which was closed by a great 
stone ; it would have been difficult to open this and carry off 
the body without being seen, and almost impossible to hide 
the body beyond discovery. The disciples were most of 
them strangers in Jerusalem, and could not count upon any 
one in power to share with them the risk of such a mad 
attempt, nor to shield them in case of failure. They would 
know til at to be caught at it would cost them their lives ; 
and the poor fellows were too much frightened by what had 
been done to their Lord to do any thing that could bring 



HE EOSE FROM THE DEAD. 401 

them into notice as his followers. The next we hear of 
them, they were gathered in a private room, under cover of 
the night, and with the doors shut, for fear of the Jews. 

But, though the taking away of the body by the disciples 
was not to be thought of, Pilate gave the chief priests a 
guard of soldiers, and told them to make the sepulchre as 
sure as they could. Now, the mouth of the tomb was 
tightly closed by a huge stone slab that fitted to it 
like a door. The priests stretched a cord, or band, across 
this door of stone, and sealed it to the rock on either side. 
This would not close the tomb any more firmly ; but the seal 
was official^ and to break this was a crime that even thieves 
would shrink from. A watch was then set around the 
tomb ; and thus the body of Jesus was completely in the 
power and keeping of his enemies. 

Already, on quitting the sepulchre, Mary Magdalene, 
Mary the mother of James, Joanna, and Salome had brought 
sweet spices with which to anoint the body. But evening 
overtook them before they could return to the garden ; and, 
as that evening brought the sabbath, they postponed their 
visit to the morning of the first day. Though they rested 
even from this work of piety, they slept little, but kept 
together their vigils of grief and love. As soon as the sun 
set on Saturday, and the sabbath was ended, they made 
ready their spices and linen ; and very early in the morning, 
when it was yet dark, they hastened to the sepulchre which 



402 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

they reached as it began to dawn. On the wa}-, they won- 
dered if, at that early hour, any one could be found to roll 
away the stone from the door; for of course they knew 
nothing of the sealing and the guard. To their amazement 
the women found the stone rolled away. At this, Mary 
Magdalene took a sudden fright. The thought that Jesus 
had risen did not once enter her mind : somebody had taken 
away her Lord ; but who had done this, or where they had 
laid him, she could not imagine ; and, distracted with fear, 
she ran to look up Peter and John, and tell them the sad 
news. No sooner had she gone than the other women went 
into the sepulchre, but started back with terror at what they 
saw ; for the body of Jesus was not there, but on one side 
was what appeared to be a young man clothed in a long 
white robe. It was not yet daylight ; and the brightness of 
his garment was a startling contrast to the darkness of the 
toml). A new tremor seized them when this stranger spoke, 
and said, " Fear not, for I know that ye seek Jesus which 
was crucified. He is not here ; for he is risen, as he said. 
Come, see the place where the Lord lay.'' He then 
reminded them of the saying of Jesus, that he should rise 
again the third day, and told them to hasten to tell the 
disciples he was risen. Convulsed with fear and joy, the 
women ran to find the disciples, and on the way were met 
by Jesus himself, who halted them, saying, " All hail ! '* 
They fell trembling at his feet, and worshipped him. " Then 



HE ROSE FEOM THE DEAD. 403 

said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid. Go tell my brethren 
that they go into Galilee, and there they shall see me." 

Meantime Peter and John had hurried back with Mary 
Magdalene; and John, outrunning them, came first to the 
sepulchre, and stooping down looked in, but did not enter 
till Peter coming up led the way, when John followed. 
They noticed, what the women in their haste and fear had 
overlooked, that the linen in which Jesus had been wrapped, 
and the napkin that was about his head, were lying there 
carefully folded, each in its place. This was a sign that the 
body had not been hastily snatched away either by enemies 
or by friends ; and now began to dawn upon them the mean- 
ing of his saying, "that he must rise from the dead." But 
this dim faith took as yet no definite shape. It was no use 
searching for Jesus, nor expecting him : they had not met 
the women who had already seen him ; they could only 
wonder and wait ; and in this frame they went away to their 
own home. 

But Mary could not be satisfied. In running for Peter 
and John she had missed seeing the angel, and missed seeing 
Jesus when he met the other women. To her the sepulchre 
was the one dear sacred spot of earth where last she had 
seen her Lord. Her one thought was, He was laid in this 
tomb, and the great stone was set in the door ; now the 
stone is rolled away, and he is not there. And so, when all 
the rest were gone, Mary still stood at the side of the sepul- 



404 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

chre weeping. She had not yet had courage to step within 
the tomb : the place where Jesus had lain seemed too sacred 
for her to tread upon ; and she shrank also from the further 
shock of seeing and feeling that he was not there. She 
could only stay and weep till some one should come who 
could tell her where they had laid him. At length, stooping 
down and looking into the sepulchre, she saw two angels in 
white, sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, 
where the body of Jesus had lain. At their question, 
*' Woman, why weepest thou ? '* her grief breaks out afresh : 
" They have taken away my Lord ; " but, before they can 
tell her that he is risen, she is aware of some one standing 
behind her, and turning sees a person whom in that imcer- 
tain light, and with her eyes blinded with tears, she takes to 
be the gardener. He repeats the question, " Woman, why 
weepest thou ? " and she, thinking that the gardener can 
certainly relieve her anguish and suspense, says to him with 
eager sobs, " Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me 
where thou hast laid him, and I will take liim away." The 
voice she knows best, loves best, speaks her name, " J/ary." 
She turns, springs, would fall into his arms, wild with 
wonder and joy, as she cries, '' Ruhboni I " But Jesus saith 
to her, " Touch me not ; for I am not yet ascended to my 
Father. But go to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend 
unto my Father and your Father, to my God and your 
God.'' He has vanished ; and now, with tears of joy, she 



HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD. 405 

goes to the house where she knows she shall find a company 
of disciples. They are still mourning and weeping over their 
Master's, death; and so deep and despairing is their sorrow, 
that, when Mary breaks in upon them with the glowing 
news " that she had seen the Lord," they will not believe 
her ; and her words seem to them as idle tales. 

But the rumor of the resurrection, which the friends of 
Jesus thus discredited, was spreading among his enemies, and 
was likely to get abroad through the town. Much as the 
sanhedrim tried to hush it up, the story of the watch 
reached even the ears of the disciples. The soldiers set to 
guard the tomb neither saw nor heard any thing to report till 
after midnight. Then a shock like an earthquake startled 
them ; and one '' whose countenance was like lightning, and 
his raiment white as snow," coming from heaven, rolled 
back the stone from the door. At sight of him, the keepers 
shook with terror, "and became as dead men." When 
they recovered, the tomb was open, and the body of Jesus 
gone. Their first thought now was for their own safety ; 
since if any of the sanhedrim should come, and find the 
body missing, the guard must answer for it with their lives. 
So they went at once to the chief priests, and told every 
thing just as it happened. The seventy were hurried to- 
gether ; and to save their credit with the people, and get rid 
of a troublesome excitement, they bribed the soldiers to say, 
"His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we 



406 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

slept." It took much money to buy over the guard, since 
it was death for a Roman soldier to sleep at liis post ; but 
the sanhedrim agreed to make it all right with Pilate, " so 
they took the money, and did as they were taught." Many 
Jews believed this story at the time ; and some have been 
weak enough to revive it in our day in order to explain away 
the resurrection. But it carries its falsehood on its face. If 
the disciples had stolen the body, the sanhediim could have 
had them arrested, and by exposing the trick have crushed 
out Christianity as an imposture. They would have asked 
nothing better to justify themselves, and confound the fol- 
lowers of Jesus. Yet, with all judicial means at their 
disposal, they made no attempt to bring the disciples to con- 
viction, disgrace, and punishment for such a fraud. Not 
long after, Peter and John declared to the sanhedrim in 
the boldest manner that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they 
crucified, God had raised from the dead.^ The council tried 
by threats and promises to silence the apostles ; but why 
did it not turn upon them, and charge them with having 
stolen the body of Jesus, and then punish them for fraud 
and falsehood ? That story served the purpose of an hour, 
but was too weak an invention to be revived as a means of 
silencing men who declared that they had seen Jesus alive 
again after he was crucified. 

During that first day there was much discussion among 

1 Acts iv. 10. 



HE ROSE mOM THE DEAD. 407 

the disciples over the report brought by the women and 
Peter and John from the sepulchre. Not many of them 
had ventured to visit the tomb for themselves ; for the fate 
of Jesus warned them not to risk their lives by appearing 
openly as his followers. But the fact was clear, that the 
tomb had been opened, and the body of Jesus was no longer 
there. Toward evening, two of the disciples were walking 
from Jerusalem to Emmaus, and earnestly discussing the 
events of the day. On the road, a stranger joined them ; 
and drawing out the subject of their conversation, about 
which they were still doubting and wondering, he explained 
to* them the spiritual meaning of the Old Testament prophe- 
cies concerning Christ, and showed how it accorded with 
the true idea of the Messiah, that he should " suffer these 
things, and enter into glory." As the stranger talked, the 
hearts of the disciples warmed toward him, till they were 
aglow with curiosity and wonder and with the fire of devo- 
tion ; and, on reaching their home, they urged him to tarry 
with them for the night. The table was soon spread; and, 
as their guest '* sat at meat with them, he took bread, and 
blessed it, and brake it, and gave to them." The scales 
dropped from their eyes ; they understood why their hearts 
had so burned on the way : it was Jesus who had talked 
with them, Jesus who sat at their side. But he had van- 
ished out of their sight. Rising up in haste, they returned 
to Jerusalem, and found the disciples gathered together, and 



408 JESUS OF KAZABETH. 

listening with eager joy to Peter, who was telling them that 
he, too, had seen the Lord. Most of them who had doubted 
the story of the women were already yielding to conviction, 
and saying, " The Lord is risen indeed." 

Yet they did not venture to give utterance to their joy in 
songs or loud exclamations ; for they were surrounded with 
enemies, and the shadow of the cross was still upon them. 
Once in the South of Spain, on the evening of the fii-st day 
of the week, I went to just such a meeting of a few humble 
men and women who had renounced the Roman Catholic 
Church for the simple faith of the gospel. In that little 
circle were some who had been imprisoned, exiled, threat- 
ened with death ; among them the father and mother of 
Matamoras, who had just died, in exile, of his persecutions 
suffered in Spain. The house in which the meeting was 
held was closed and darkened; the disciples came after 
nightfall, one by one so as not to attract notice, and gained 
admittance by a secret signal. When all were assembled, 
they talked and prayed in low voices, but did not dare to 
sing lest they should be overheard and betrayed. Thus 
shut in from the knowledge of the world and fi-om tho 
hatred of priests and persecutors, how sweet, tender, and 
precious was their communion with their Lord, whose pres- 
ence they felt though they had not seen ! I fancied myself 
in that room in Jerusalem, with the cross still fresh in view, 
" when the doore were shut where the disciples were assem- 



HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD. 409 

bled, for fear of the Jews." But to them it was given to see 
the Lord. A few moments before, the door was opened to 
the disciples from Emmaus, who gave the concerted signal ; 
then all was made fast again by the porter. And there, with- 
out knocking, without opening, " stood Jesus himself in the 
midst of them, and saith unto them. Peace be unto you." 
But they were terrified beyond measure ; even those who had 
ah'eady seen him during the day were affrighted at this mys- 
terious entrance into the room, and "supposed that they had 
seen a spirit." To calm their minds, Jesus showed them his 
hands, his feet, and his side, marked with the wounds of the 
cross, and asked them even to handle him, and make sure 
that he had flesh and bones. And now for very joy they 
could not believe their eyes, but stood motionless in wonder. 
Not till he called for meat, and " did eat before them," did 
they recover from their fright so as to realize that their Lord 
was indeed among them, and to listen to his words. Then 
he made clear to their understanding the teachings of 
the Old Testament concerning Christ; and how by his 
sufferings and death he " had fulfilled all things written in 
the law of Moses, and in the prophets and in the Psalms." 
And, having thus opened the kingdom of heaven through 
the forgiveness of sins, he commanded them to " go into all 
the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." 

While waiting in Jerusalem for the power that Jesus had 
promised them "from on high," the disciples were often 



410 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

consulting about their future plans and hopes ; and they 
met statedly on the first day of the week. At their next 
meeting, Thomas, who had been absent from the first, was 
with them; and, Jesus appearing as before, the doubter, 
confuted by his own words, beheved with eyes, lips, heai't, 
confessing Jesus his Lord and his God. 

The appearances of Jesus at the Sea of Tiberias, at a 
mountain in Galilee, and at Bethany, to be treated in the 
following chapters, complete the record of the ways in 
which '' he showed himself alive after his passion." That, 
in view of the life and character of Jesus, it was credible 
that he should rise from the dead, and that the fact of his 
resurrection would be peculiarly capable of proof, has been 
shown at the beginning of this chapter ; and now, on review- 
ing the evidence, it is plain that the fact as stated, and this 
alone, can satisfactorily account for the story and its effects. 

If Jesus did indeed rise, the witnesses to the fact could 
not have been deceived. They knew him intimately ; they 
were numerous, and were on the quick to test the reahty ; 
they saw him often, and under a great variety of conditions, 
during a period of forty days. As they could not have been 
deceived, neither could they have been deceivers. They 
had no motive for making up such a story. If false, their 
detection was sure : they could be made to produce the 
body, or tell what had become of it, or be punished for their 
deception. They had nothing to gain, but every thing to 



I 



HE EOSE FROM THE DEAD. 411 

lose, by inventing a story that Jesus had risen. He had 
been crucified on the charges of blasphemy and sedition ; 
and for them to avow themselves his disciples would be to 
provoke his fate as accomphces. There was nothing in the 
world to tempt men to start such a report ; yet we find these 
men giving their whole lives to declaring the fact that Jesus 
rose from the dead, saying they were witnesses to the fact, 
and suffering imprisonment, torture, death, rather than take 
back that testimony. And the use they made of the resur- 
rection was to persuade men to forsake their sins, and lead 
holy lives. The witnesses sought for themselves neither 
money, power, office, nor fame, but were ready to die for 
their word. Such is not the manner of impostors. 

The notion that the story of the resurrection was a myth, 
— not at first in the Gospels, but which grew up in later 
times to throw a halo about the death of Christ, — will not 
bear the test of the narrative. For here we have, from 
beginning to end, internal evidence of this being a true 
story, and freshly recorded at the time. When we reflect 
that the disciples were Jews, and that, up to the arrest of 
Jesus, they clung to the notion that he would somehow 
show himself a king, we can understand how little impres- 
sion his allusions to his rising again would have been made 
on their minds, and how completely their hopes were dashed 
by his crucifixion. They did not once think of watching 
the tomb, nor of going to see if he had risen. They 



412 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

thought too much of their own safety to hang about the 
sepulchre ; they were too full of grief to remember promises. 
And when some did go to the tomb, not to seek the living 
Jesus, but to embalm his dead body, they could not believe 
that he had risen ; and, after they had seen him, others would 
not believe their story. Now, all this, which goes to dis- 
credit the faith and love of the disciples, accredits the story. 
It does credit, to their honesty as narrators of fact, and has 
nothing of the air of a myth. So of all the sayings and 
doings of Jesus. They are in perfect keeping with his char- 
acter. He does not show himself off as a wonder, and does 
not make weak, vague, or m3'sterious communications, 
such as legends ascribe to persons said to appear from the 
spirit world ; but, having satisfied his disciples that he is 
their Lord, he gives them plain, clear, earnest spiritual 
instruction about his own person and work, and their duty. 
Every thing in the story comports with a record of facts. 

But two scenes in particular show it to be real, — the 
heart-broken Mary, the boasting, swaggering Thomas. Mary 
following the body to the tomb to see where it was laid, 
going early to anoint it, in her fright at the open door, run- 
ning to tell the disciples that the body had been taken away, 
coming back to weep at the sepulchre, entreating the gar- 
dener to help her find her Lord ; and then that moment so 
simple and so dignified, so tender and so sublime, the 
ecstasy of a human joy, the calmness of a divine majesty, — 



HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD. 413 

all this witnesses for its own truth. Only on the supposi- 
tion that Jesus had risen, and stood by Mary's side, can we 
account for that scene which has never been attained to by 
poetry or art, and which was never invented by man, — 
" Mary," " Rabboni." 

Then, Thomas ! who, like Peter, had said, " Let us go and 
die with him, " ^ like Peter ready to assert himself, now 
putting his own senses, his own doubts, his own reason, 
above the testimony of all his brethren, and in the violence 
of self-will proposing to subject the wounded body of his 
Lord to a degrading test. How true, alas, is this to nature ! 
and how true does one feel the narrative to be, as it shows 
Thomas overwhelmed with shame at his own words, 
rebounding from the extravagance of doubt to the ecstasy 
of faith and adoration ! Ah ! who would not kneel by his 
side, to catch the breath of that wondrous benediction, 
" Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have 
believed"? 

Two collateral proofs establish the place of the resurrec- 
tion in history. At the crucifixion we find the disciples 
disheartened, wavering, hiding away ; their king crucified, 
themselves in fear of the Jews. A few days later we find 
them boldly proclaiming themselves believers in Jesus as the 
Christ, and preaching the most spiritual views of his person, 
his teachings, his death, and his kingdom. Something 

1 John xi. 16. 



414 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

momentous must have happened to cause this great change 
in their inner views and feelings and their outward de- 
meanor. Now, the resurrection, which they proclaim as a 
fact, does account for this change ; and nothing else can. 

Again : a few months later we find a man of liberal cul- 
ture, hut of intense Jewish prejudices ; a man of extraor- 
dinary powers of reasoning, and of marked sincerity of 
character ; a man of strong ambition, and who had the finest 
prospects that could then open to a Jew, — we find this 
Saul of Tarsus, who had volunteered to persecute the new 
faith, suddenly embracing it, relinquishing all worldly 
honors and hopes, and devoting himself to preaching the 
cross, with a firmness, an earnestness, a persistency, a moral 
heroism, almost beyond parallel. Now, this man was a 
trained logician, and had an honest love of truth. He 
wrote a letter to the Corinthians, the genuineness of which 
has not been denied, and could not be questioned, since the 
epistle is quoted as his by the earliest fathers. In that 
epistle Paul declares that Jesus rose from the dead, that he 
was seen of Cephas, of James, of all the apostles, and of 
above five hundred brethren at once ; and then he adds, " of 
whom the greater part remain unto this present." ^ Paul 
knew these witnesses. Cephas, or Peter, he knew inti- 
mately ; James and the other apostles he had conferred 
with at Jerusalem, about his own work. Many of the five 

1 1 Cor. XV. 6. 



HE EOSE FHOM THE DEAD. 415 

hundred were personally known to him ; he knew their 
character, had tested their evidence, and was ready to stake 
his existence upon the fact that Christ died, was buried, and 
rose again the third day. That a man of such breadth, 
keenness, candor, and honesty, made this examination of 
eye-witnesses, and came to this conviction, gave up every 
thing for his belief, lived in it, died for it, — this almost 
judicial investigation and decision at the time sweeps away 
the qualms of modern doubters, and thrills our inmost being 
with Paul's triumphant strain, " Now is Christ risen from 
the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept." 



CHAPTER XLI. 

ONE LAST LOOK AXD WORD. 

Before finally quitting the earth, the risen Lord would 
visit once more the two spots that had been to him most 
dear, — Galilee and Bethany. One more look at the lake, 
one more look at the home, and he will return to tlie gloiy 
he had with his Father '* before the world was." * At both 
places, too, he would once more convei-se with his disciples 
amid scenes endeared by so many memories of his earthly life. 
In sending out his messengers for the first preaching of his 
gospel, Jesus had instructed them to " shake off the dust 
from their feet " at places that should reject the message, 
'' for a testimony against them ; '' ^ yet he lingers upon the 
earth that had rejected and crucified him, presses it lovingly 
with those sacred feet that had been pierced with nails, and 
thus blends the most tender and beautiful of human affec- 
tions with the grace and mercy that his resurrection had 
attested as divine. The more he shows himself the man, 
the more we see in him the God. Earth is no longer so 

1 John xvii. 5. * Matt. x. 14. 

41(> 



ONE LAST LOOK AND WORD. 417 

remote nor estranged from heaven as to cut off communica- 
tion between the two. Jesus was born as helpless as any 
babe, and he died seemingly as helpless as any man ; but 
the Christ who has risen from the grave, and is capable at 
will of appearing as man or vanishing as a spiiit, belongs to 
a sphere above the earth ; and he it is who now pauses to 
look with human eyes, memories, and loves upon the 
favorite spots of earth before he takes up his final abode 
in heaven. 

He had appointed a general gathering of his disciples at 
a mountain in a secluded part of Galilee, where he after- 
wards '* was seen of above five hundred at once ; " ^ and, in 
view of this meeting, the apostles had gone as far as the 
lake, where most of them had their homes. They were too 
poor to be idle ; and, as a party of them (seven in all) were 
standing one evening on the shore, Peter said, " I go 
a-fishing;" whereupon they all decided to go Avith liim, 
and, getting into a vessel, pushed out into the lake. There 
they lay all night long casting and drawing their net, but 
caught nothing. As day began to break, they despaired of 
any luck, and were about to set in for the shore, when, 
looking thither, they saw in the gray daAvn some one stand- 
ing, and watching their movements. Hailing them, he asked 
wliat they had caught; and, Avhen they answered ''Nothing," 
he said, " Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye 

1 Matt, xxviii. 16; 1 Cor. xv. 6. 



418 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

shall find." The stranger might be some old fisherman who 
thought he knew the lake and its fish better than they, and, 
like his craft, was ready with his advice. At any rate, 
there could be no harm in trying again : so they cast their 
net as he told them; and now "they were not able to draw 
it for the multitude of fishes." 

There is an instinct in love, that is quicker than reason ; 
and " that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is 
the Lord." John felt the presence where Peter saw only 
the wonder ; but, at that hmt, Peter girt his coat about him, 
and leaped into the sea. Here is Peter again, with his old 
impulsiveness of temperament ; only this is not the impetu- 
osity of pride nor of zeal, but of love. He does not now ask 
to walk upon the sea, as a sign that this is Jesus indeed ; but, 
trusting to his sturdy arms, he goes phishing through the 
water, and runs dripping up the beach. But the other 
disciples are not far behind him. Getting into the boat, 
they drag the net after them to the shore, where Peter runs 
to help them ; and, all tugging together, they draw the net 
to land, and find it " fidl of great fishes, an hundied and 
fifty and three." Great was their surprise, that, ** for all 
there were so many, yet was not the net broken ; " but they 
were speechless with amazement when, on turning round, 
they saw on the shore " a fire of coals, and fish laid thereon, 
and bread," and heard themselves called to come and 
eat. *' And none of the disciples durst ask. Who art thou ? 



ONE LAST LOOK AND WORD. 419 

knowing that it was the Lord." Hungry as they were, 
they would not even touch the food ; but Jesus, drawing 
nearer, took bread and fish, and distributed with his own 
hands. 

The meal over, the Lord turned to Simou Peter, and said, 
" Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these ? " 
Once Peter was forward to say, " Though all men shall be 
offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended ; " 
and just now he had jumped into the sea, leaving the rest 
to follow in the boat, as though he were more eager than 
they to greet the Lord. But now he drops the tone of 
boasting ; he makes no comparison of himself with others ; 
the very question of Jesus is probing his heart. Yes, he 
has been vain, weak, impulsive, more confident than trust- 
ful ; but it was the generosity of love that prompted his 
self-assertion ; and, though m a sudden moment of bewilder- 
ment and anguish he did forsake his Master, even then he 
did not abandon his love. That love drew from him bitter 
tears ; that love drew him after the cross, and early to the 
sepulchre ; and now with the humility of one who has 
fallen, but also the full consciousness that because of this 
fall he knows his heart better than before, he appeals to 
Jesus : *' Yea, Lord : thou knowest that I love thee." 
** Jesus said to him. Feed my lambs." He has no praises 
nor honors to bestow for the profession of love. Love must 
be shown by service, by work and sacrifice. And to this 



420 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

forward and fiery disciple Jesus assigns a task that calls for 
meekness and gentleness, — the quiet, patient work of 
caring for the lambs, giving instruction, counsel, guidance, 
to the young disciples of the flock. 

A second time Jesus asks, " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest 
thou me ? " A second time the disciple feels the probe ; and 
now it goes still deeper ; for Jesus does not ask whether 
Peter has a greater love than the rest, but whether he really 
loves at all. In the same tone of humilit}^ and reverence, 
and with the same consciousness of sincerity, Peter answers, 
'' Yea, Lord : thou knowest that I love thee." Again he 
receives the command, "Feed my sheep." And now the 
thu'd time comes the searching question, "Simon, son of 
Jonas, lovest thou me?" Alas, poor Peter! Was ever a 
soul put to such a testing ? Not a word of doubt or reproof 
is spoken, not one allusion to what he had si\id and done 
on that eventful night. But his eyes are swimming, his heart 
is breaking ; for with this third question he is agiun in the 
court of the high priest's palace, he is cursing and denying, 
he hears the crowing cock ; he sees Jesus buffeted, scourged, 
mocked, bleeding, dying, and himself afiir off with the oath 
of denial blistering his lips even while his Lord prays, 
"Father, forgive them." Yet in the depth of his heart he 
does love, he did love even then ; and, bitterly as he wept 
for his sudden sin, he is more grieved that Jesus should 
seem to doubt him still. This three times a>king cuts 



ONE LAST LOOK AND WOED. 421 

him deeper than any censure. What can he say ? What 
shall he do ? Ah ! he is dealing now with no mere human 
master ; his risen Lord can search the heart : and so from 
the depths of his own consciousness he throws himself 
upon the consciousness of Jesus, " Lord, thou knowest all 
things: thou knowest that I love thee." And yet there 
comes no word of assurance, no token that it is enough : 
only the same command. Let love, then, do its task, — 
" Feed my sheep." 

But here was an assurance stronger than words could 
have given. This command was a trust ; and, since the 
kingdom of Christ could advance only by knowledge and 
truth, the trust of feeding and guiding his disciples was the 
highest mark of confidence and honor. How touchingly 
Peter reminds us of this in his epistles to believers, where 
he says, " Ye were as sheep going astray, but are now 
returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls ; " ^ 
and to the *' elders " he says, " Feed the flock of God, not 
as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to 
the flock; and, when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye 
shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." ^ 
Thus Peter came to know and prize the honor that the 
Lord had conferred upon him in intrusting to him the care 
of the lambs, the feeding of the sheep. 

• At this moment too, in the tone of the third question, the 
1 1 Pet. i. 25. 2 1 Pet. v. 1-4. 



422 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

heart of Jesus had responded to the heart of Peter. Jesus 
had put his question in a word that signifies such high and 
sacred love as men render to God ; and Peter had answered 
by a word that expresses the warmth of human affection. 
But, in the third question, our Lord takes this woixi out of 
Peter's mouth, as though he would open again his heart as 
a man, to answer to the yearning, burning, yet grieving, 
breaking heart of his disciple. Recognizing thus the sin- 
cerity of Peter's love, the Lord predicts to what this love 
will bring him, — the loss of liberty, the loss of life. 
*' When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and 
walkedst whither thou woiddest ; but, when thou shalt be 
old, thou shalt stretch forth thine hands, and another 
shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." 
Yes, he too should be stretched upon the cross. "And, 
when Jesus had spoken this, he saith to Peter, Follow 
me." Let love prove itself by obedience and by sacrifice. 
The disciple who would follow Jesus in his triumph and 
to his glory must follow him in his own way. As the 
resurrection gives to his followers no exemption from 
dying, neither does his glory procure them exemption from 
suffering. In the spirit of labor and of sacrifice, they must 
follow Jesus as he was on earth, if they would be with 
Jesus where he is in the glory of his Father. 

It is not possible in a moment to change one's tempera- 
ment, nor even by the severest discipline to conquer all its 



ONE LAST LOOK AND WOKD. 423 

tendencies. So Peter's old impulse to have his say about 
every thing seizes upon him as he sees John also following ; 
and he said to Jesus, '' Lord, and what shall this man do ? " 
But, though Jesus would impart every thing to faith, he 
never yielded any thing to curiosity. 

A poor widow, born a heathen, yearning for a word of 
mercy, begging even for the crumbs from the Master's table, 
could win a miracle of healing as a reward of her faith; 
but not the clamor of the people, the official demand of the 
Pharisees, nor the authority of Herod, could extort from 
him a sign. So here Jesus taught Peter that we should 
rather study to know and do the will of God, than speculate 
about his providence : direct, present, personal obedience to 
Christ, rather than curious inquiry as to details of his 
kingdom, is the mark of devotion to that kingdom, as 
well as to Christ himself. Peter had been told that love 
meant service and sacrifice; and the life of toil and the 
death of pain before him were then illumined and ennobled 
by the summons, " Follow me." But Peter must know 
what service and what fate were appointed to John. The 
Master answered, " If I will that he tarry till I come, what 
is that to thee ? " and, to shut off all such inquiry, he added 
with emphasis, " Follow thou me." In the service of Christ, 
it is the duty of each and every one to stand in his own 
place, there to live and to die with a loving, patient, obedi- 
ent heart ; for allegiance to the Master is personal, and must 



424 JESUS OF NAZAKETH. 

be rendered by each for himself, apart from the circum- 
stances or position, the performances or the failures, of 
others. The notion went out among the disciples, that John 
should not die. But Jesus had said, " If I will that he tarry 
till I come ; " and, to the believer, death is only a coming of 
the Lord to set free his spirit, that it may he with Christ in 
his glory. 



CHAPTER XLII. 

IN THE HIGHEST. 

Now that Jesus had risen from the dead, his ascent to 
heaven in an open and visible manner was a simple neces- 
sity to the moral value of his resurrection, and to the final 
impression of his life, his teaching-, and his death. To have 
fallen again under the power of death, and have been again 
laid in the grave, — as must have -happened to Lazarus, — 
in the case of Jesus would have made of the resurrection a 
mere dramatic show of power, without moral significance. 
When Jesus raised Lazarus he showed his power over the 
physical laws, processes, and effects involved in death and 
decay. But Jesus rose from the dead to make known his 
power over death itself, — in all its fears, its pains, its possi- 
bilities, in its forebodings equally with its effects, in those 
moral and spiritual associations and issues of which the 
physical event is only a type. The resurrection of Lazarus 
was declarative : the resurrection of Jesus was redemptive, 
attescing his own words in that grand prophetic hope of 
humanity, " I am the resurrection and the life : he that 

425 



426 JESUS OF NAZAEETH. 

believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; " ^ 
" Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal 
life ; and I will raise him up at the last day." - Had even 
his body then sunk back into the arms of death, how weak 
had seemed that promise, how vain that hope ! 

If, on the other hand, Jesus had simpl}- vanished from 
among his disciples, the impression of his resurrection might 
in time have vanished also. Again and again had he 
appeared to them suddenly in his familiar form, then disap- 
peared as suddenly, they knew not how. Where he was in 
the intervals, they could not guess, they dared not ask. If 
his last disappearance had been after this fashion, they 
would long have watched and waited for his coming again, 
would slowly have given him up ; and then, not knowing 
how to trace nor where to place him, they might have fallen 
to doubting whether his appearances were not apparitions 
merely, without substantial identity. But Jesus joined their 
last view of him on earth with his return to heaven as a 
palpable reality. 

After the scene at the lake, he had met his disciples at a 
mountain in Galilee, and had there given the apostles their 
final commission, saying, '' All power is given unto me in 
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost ; and, lo, I am with you alway, even 

* John xi. 25. * John vi. 54. 



IN THE HIGHEST. 427 



unto the end of the world." ^ But, for this commission, 
they should receive a special power from on high ; and for 
this they must return to Jerusalem, and there await the 
baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

For the period of forty days after his passion had Jesus 
thus at intervals " showed himself alive to his disciples by 
many infallible proofs, speaking of the things pertaining 
to the kingdom of God." ^ At length, one morning when 
the eleven were together, Jesus being with them, they asked 
him, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the king- 
dom to Israel ? " Their old Jewish hope of a conquering 
and reigning Messiah, crushed by the death of their Master, 
was revived by his resurrection. Now they fully believed 
in Jesus as the Christ ; but the}^ would not understand his 
ways. How well it would have suited them if he had gone 
and shown himself to the sanhedrim and to Pilate as alive 
from the dead, and, in the surprise and terror of his enemies, 
had proclaimed his kingdom! But this sacred seal of his 
mission was not for a show to sceptics. For a moment he 
would have been to them a wonder and a terror ; but soon 
they would have said again, " He hath a devil." His king- 
dom was the kingdom of truth ; and truth must rest upon 
moral conviction. The resurrection had answered its end 
in convincing and confirming the disciples ; the fact was 
made sure by sufficient witnesses • but it was not the fact, 
1 Matt, xxviii. 18, 19. 2 Acts i. 3. 



428 .JESUS OF NAZARETH. 

but the spiritual truth that this fact taught and certified, 
which was to be preached. There could be uo gain in Jesus' 
remaining upon earth to show himself to strangers: since 
the fact of his death and his identity would have to be 
established in each case; and then he would be only a 
wonder among men. There would have been no gain in his 
setting up a kingdom of earthly power: since it matters 
little for the real good of human society how the forms of 
government or the persons of rulers may change, so long as 
the hearts of men — the seat of evil — remain unchanged. 
" It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which 
the Father hath put into his own power." Leave the man- 
agement of the kingdom to Him who rules. Show your 
faith in the kingdom, and your love for it, by proclaiming 
the truth in which it rests, by wliich it rules. " Ye shall 
be witnesses for me." 

As this conversation began, they had set out upon the old 
familiiir walk over the Mount of Olives. This little party of 
twelve men, thus quietly walking, would attract no special 
attention; and they went on like any wayfarers, till they 
had turned the shoulder of the mountain where tlie httle 
village of Bethany came in sight, and Jerusalem was lost to 
view. On that side the mountain was quite bare of culture 
and of dwellings, save where the little village of date-trees 
nestled in its sheltered nook. At this point Jesus halted ; 
and he who had been walking and talking with the apostles, 



IN THE HIGHEST. 429 



as he had so often done just there in the week before bis 
death, now lifted up his hands, and blessed them. " And, 
even as he blessed them, he was parted from them, and taken 
up; and a cloud received him out of their sight." The song 
of his birth once more wraps the earth in the folds of 
heaven, — here the benediction, there the glory. With 
hands uplifted he blesses the disciples, leaves to men peace 
and good-will, and then goes up to God in the highest. 

Long do the disciples stand looking steadfastly, wistfully, 
toward heaven as he goes up ; when suddenly two angels are 
beside them, who say, " Why stand ye gazing up into 
heaven ? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into 
heaven, shall so come in Yike manner as ye have seen him go 
into heaven." They returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 
and went forth, and preached everywhere. 

From that hour the most momentous fact in history, — 
the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, — the most potent 
means of moral reform, the most mighty influence of spirit- 
ual experience, began to work in human society, transform- 
ing that society, purifying and ennobling it, till at length 
Christianity has become its own witness; itself greater 
than all its miracles, the wonder of the ages, attesting 
Jesus as the Son of God, and his word as the power of an 
endless life. 



INDEX. 



^sop's fables, 230. 

Age, the golden, 6. 

Alexander the Great, 299. 

Alps, scene upon the, 267. 

Andrew visits Jesus, 117. 

Angel visits Mary, 17 ; appears to Jo- 
seph in a dream, 64; speaks to 
the women at the sepulchre, 402. 

Angels, song of, 4, 11; minister to 
Jesus in the desert, 110 ; at the 
sepulchre, 404. 

Anger of Jesus, 135, 218. 

Anguish of Jesus, 341, 302. 

Anna the prophetess praises Jesus, 
34. 

Annas the high priest, 355. 

Apostles, the twelve, relations of, to 
Jesus, 320. 

Aristocracy of church, 327. 

Ascension, 428. 

Augustus, Emperor, orders a census 
of Judea, 13, note. 



Baptism in Switzerland, 30; among 
the Jews, 92 ; of the Levites, 92 ; 
John's, 95. 

Barabbas, 375. 



Beatitudes, 192. 

Bethany, Lazarus raised from the 
dead at, 228; description of, 271. 

Bethesda, Pool of, 225. 

Bethlehem, visit of shepherds to, 5 ; 
known as the " City of David," 
9; mentioned by Micah, 27, 60; 
children of, destroyed by Herod, 
61. 

Bethsaida, 175. 

Bible, the, a book of wonders, 53 ; 
and nature, 209. 

Blanc, Mont, 267. 

Blind men, 289. 

Born again, 147. 

Bread, living, 330. 

Brahe, Tycho, new star of, 42. 

Brotherhood, 322. 

Bushnell, "Nature and the Super- 
natural," 337, note. 



Caiaphas the high priest, 318 ; sum- 
mons the sanhedrim, 360. 

Cana, marriage at, 129. 

Capernaum, healing of nobleman's 
son at, 167; people of, follow 
Jesus, 181 ; scene of the greater 
part of the miracles, 183; the 
earthly centre of the kingdom of 
431 



432 



INDEX. 



God, 185; doubts in relation to 
its site, 188. 

Caravansary for travellers, 12. 

Census, Roman, 13, 221. 

Cesarea Philippi, 279. 

Charity, true, 215. 

Children of God, the, 193. 

Christ announced, 11; Jesus, the, 
304. 

Christian brotherhood not commun- 
ism, .']23. 

Christs, false, 223. 

Confucius and the G^ilden Rule, 210. 

Communion of saints, the, 328. 

Constantinople the obstacle to the 
conversion of the Greeks, 165, 
. note. 

Courts of the temple, 137. 

Cross, form of the, 384,385; inscrip- 
tion over, 389; exalted and glo- 
rified, 393. 

Crucifixion a conmion mode of pun- 
ishment with the Romans, liSS. 

Cup in Gethsemane, 392. 

Cyrus, the Persian king, praised by 
Isaiah, 25. 



D. 



Daniel made chief of the Magi, 39; 
predicts the Messiah, 39. 

Death belongs to the course of na- 
ture, 390. 

Dedication, feast of, 294, note. 

Democracy, the true, 327. 

Demons, 252. 

Desert of Judea, John preaches in, 
93 ; Jesus in the, 98. 

Devil, the. tempts Jesus, 103; a per- 
sonal spirit. 109; sows tares, 234; 
in Gethsemane, 340. 

Disciples, the first, 115: sent forth, 
185; Jesus appears to, 409, 417. 



Dives and Lazarus, parable of, 286. 

Divinity of Jesus, 361. 

Dove, the, at baptism of Jesus, 96. 



Earthquake at the death of Christ, 
392. 

East, land of the, 37. 

Ea'^tern houses, fashion of, 356. 

Egypt, the land of, 57; flight of Jo- 
seph into, 61 ; route of Joseph 
and Mary, 62 ; legends of Jesus 
in, 63. 

Elective affinity shown by Jesus. 324. 

Elias at transfiguration, 261. 

Elisabeth, visit of Mary to, 19. 

Emmaus, the disciples talk with Je- 
sus on the way to, 407. 

Ephraim, city of, 284 

Essenes, the, 127. 

Evil One, the, busy sowing tares, 
234. 



Fables of the heathen, 21; of the 

Virgin, 21 ; of .Esop, 2S0. 
Faith a higher faculty, 52, 53; should 

be educated, 53. 
Family, Jesus blessed, 196; of Christ, 

320. 
Famine, 104. 

Fanners in Palestine, 10. 
Fasting of Jesus, 99; remarkable 

cases of, 110, note. 
Fear, Jesus had no, 344. 
Food, note on living without, liu. 
Foi^iveness, 216. 
Forty often used as a round number, 

100, note. 
French convention of 1793, 326. 
I Friends of Jesus, 270, 320. 



INDEX. 



433 



G. 



Galilee, district of, 16; Jesus jour- 
neys to, 118; Cana of, 129; gath- 
ering of the disciples at, 417. 

Gennesareth, Lake, 175; plain of, 
fertility of, 176. 

Gethsemane, 341. 

Give, how to, 215. 

God a spirit, 161. 

Golden age, 6. 

Golden Rule, the, 210. 

Good shepherd, parable of the, 227. 

Gospel, the Fourth, 231; genuine- 
ness of, 361, note. 

Galilee, Lake of, 233. 

Greeks anxious to see Jesus, 312. 



H. 



Handel's oratorio of the Messiah, 23. 

Hatvest, 164. 

Heart, the seat of the moral feelings, 
202 ; the pure in, 203. 

Heaven, kingdom of, preached by 
John, 04; how found, 194. 

Hebrew Bible translated into Greek, 
26. 

Hermon, Mount, 279. 

Herod Antipas, dominion of, 65; rul- 
er of Galilee, 371. 

Herod the Great, cruelty of, 58 ; su- 
perstition of, 59 ; sends privately 
for the Magi, 60; destroys the 
children of Bethlehem, 61 ; death 
of, 64. 

Herodians, the, 307. 

Heroism of Jesus, 287. 

Hezekiah, King, threatened by Isaiah, 
25. 

High priest, the office of, 355, 

Hillel, Rabbi, and the Golden Rule, 
210. 



Holy of Holies, the, 135. 
Home of Jesus, 64. 
Honor, true and false, 292. 
Hosannah in the highest, 303. 
Hunger, pangs of, 104, 199. 
Humanity, brotherhood of, 325. 
Hymn after supper, 338. 



Isaiah, prophecy of, concerning 
Christ, 4; threatens King Heze- 
kiah, 25; praises King Cyrus, 
25 ; Jesus expounds, 168. 

Inn, an Oriental, 12. 

Inscription over the cross, 389. 



Jairus, daughter of, 253. 

James the apostle, at the transfigura- 
tion, 262 ; in the garden of Geth- 
semane, 341. 

Jericho, gate of, 289. 

Jerusalem, road from Bethlehem to, 
31; at the Passover, 82, 143; 
city described, 143; political 
state of, 220; destruction fore- 
told by Jesus, 316; society of 
ladies in, 384. 

Jesus, birth of, 13; naming of, 15; 
taken to the temple, 32 ; birth of, 
fixed by scholars, 45, note ; fam- 
ily of, 71 ; sent to school, 75 ; did 
not get his wisdom from other 
men, 79; brought up to be a 
carpenter, 80 ; goes to Jerusalem 
with his parents, 82; converses 
with the rabbis, 87; increasing 
in Avisdom and in grace, 90 ; bap- 
tized by John, 96; moved to go 
into the wilderness, 98; fasting. 



434 



i>a)EX. 



99 ; tempted by the Devil, 103 ; 
goes to look up John, 116 ; Invites 
Andrew and John to his house, 
117; conversation with Peter, 
John, Andrew, and Nathanael, 
119; personal appearance of, 
124; did not join the Essenes, 
128; attends the wedding at 
Cana, 129 ; turns the water into 
wine, 1:31 ; drives the men and 
beasts from the temple, 141 : his 
first pupil, 145; teaches Nico- 
demus concerning the kingdom 
of God, 148; makes more disci- 
ples than Joim, 152; at Jacob's 
well, 150; talks with the woman 
of fcsamaria, 158; performs no 
miracles at Shechem, ir»5; 
heals nobleman's son at Caper- 
naum, 107 ; cast out of the syn- 
agogue at Nazareth, 171; makes 
a home at Capernaum, 180; 
preaches the Sermon on the 
Mount, 190; visits to Jerusalem, 
220; hated by political and re- 
ligious leaders, 224; heals a 
man at the Pool of Bethexla, 
225; mobbed in Jerusalem. 220; 
gives sight to a blind man, 227; 
raises Lazarus from the dead, 
228 ; makes use of parables, 2;iO ; 
miracles of, 242; sympathy for 
sufferers, 259; transfiguration 
of, 201 ; frieiuls of, 270; grief of, 
at the death of Lazarus, 274; 
journeys t)f, 278; crosses the 
Jordan, 284; tone of his preach- 
ing, 285; cures blind men, 289; 
speaks to Zaccheus, 290 ; escort- 
ed in triumph to Jerusalem. 295; 
weeps tor the city, 299; public 
entry, o04; preaches to the peo- 
ple, 305; utters warnings against 
the scribes and Pharisees, 311; 



Greeks desire to see him, 312; 
foretells the destruction of Jeru- 
salem, 316; sends Peter and 
John to make arrangements for 
the Passover, 319; love of, for 
the disciples, 323; as a reformer 
of society, 326; the last supper, 
331 ; warns Peter, ow ; promises 
to send the Comforter, 3^34 ; goes 
out of the cfty, 3:38; in Geth- 
semane, 341: prayer of, 342; 
excuses his disciples for sleep- 
ing, :i45; his bloody sweat, 346; 
betrayed by Judas, :347 ; rebukes 
Peter, 348; yields himstlf up to 
his Father, 349; brought before 
the high priest, 356; confesses 
himself to l>e the Christ, .361; 
adjudged guilty of death by the 
council, 362; examined by Pi- 
late, StM ; sent to nero<l Antipas, 
371 ; mocked by the j^oldiers. 372; 
scourged by order of Pilate. 376; 
delivered to be crucitieil, 379; 
bears his cross, 385; looks with 
compassion upon the women, 
387 ; sinks under hi> burden. ;388 ; 
nailed to the cross, 389: mocked 
by the soldiers. 390; railed at by 
the thief, 391 ; dios. 392; appears 
to the women, 402, 404: walks 
with the disciples to Emmaus, 
407 ; appears among the disciples 
at Jerusalem, 409; seen by the 
disciples at Galilee, 417; feeds 
the apostles, 418; gives com- 
mands to Simon Peter, 41{v-420; 
commissions the apostles to 
teach all nations, 426; ascends 
to heaven, 428. 

Jewish boy, reverence of. for his 
te:\chers. S8. » 

Jewish rabbis, mode of teaching of, 
80 ; converse with Jesus, 88. 



INDEX. 



435 



Jewish wedding, description of, 130. 

Jews, alone, knew and worshipped 
the true God, 7 ; looking for the 
Messiah, 26; their pride in the 
temple, 32; remain in Babylon, 
39; schools among the, 76; 
taught their boys trades, 80; 
baptism among the, 92; their 
hatred of the Samaritans, 157; 
their reverence for teachers and 
prophets, 180 ; true to the forms 
of their religion, 222; forms and 
scruples of, 364 ; their hatred of 
Pontius Pilate, 365; clamor for 
the death of Jesus, 376. 

Joanna, 270, 401. 

John the Baptist, 93; baptizing in 
the Jordan, 95; baptizes Jesus, 
96; prepares his disciples to 
follow Christ, 115; baptizing at 
Salim, 152; put to death by 
Herod, 153. 

John the evangelist, 117; at the 
transfiguration, 262; the disciple 
whom Jesus loved, 324; in the 
garden of Gethsemane, 341; at 
the trial of Jesus, 357; at the 
crucifixion, .391 ; at the sepulchre 
of Jesus, 403 ; declares the resur- 
rection of Christ, 406. 

Joppa, 86. 

Jordan, the, 91. 

Joseph, husband of Mary, 13, 17; 
flight of, to Egypt, 61 ; returns 
to Nazareth, 66; his character, 
71; takes Jesus to Jerusalem, 
82. 

Joseph of Arimathea, 270, 398. 

Josephus, account of Herod by, 58; 
his description of Capernaum, 
176. 

Judas Iscariot, 331 ; betrays Jesus, 
347; motives of, 380; hangs 
hhnself, 382. 



Judas of Galilee resists the census, 

223. 
Jupiter and Saturn, conjunction of, 

45. 



K. 



Kingdom, Herod's, 58, 281; of heav- 
en, 94, 117, 147, 166, 193, 230, 
291, 296, 369. 

Kedron, the, 338. 

Kepler, description of famous star 
by, 43. 

King of Jews, 298, 361, 367, 376. 



L. 



Lamb of God, 97 ; paschal, 319. 

Law of nature, 242. 

Lawyers, .308. 

Lazai-us raised from the dead, 228, 

274. 
Levi the publican, 184. 
Life, success in, 235. 
Lincoln, President, memorial of, 329. 
Love, the law of, 216. 
Lord's Supper, the, 329. 
Lord's Prayer, the, 209. 
Luke, story of the jDortrait of Christ 

by, 124. 



M. 



Madonna, Sistine, 35. 

Magi, who were the? 38; excited 
by strange scenes in the skies, 
45; fables and poems relating 
to, 49; heralds of the Gentile 
world, 51. 

"Man of Sorrows," 286. 

Manger, babe in the, 12. 

Marius, consul at Eome, 172. 

Martha and Mary of Bethany, 272. 



436 



INDEX. 



Matthew the tax-gatherer, 270. 

Mary Magdalene, 270; at the cross, 
391 ; at the sepulchre, 402 ; meets 
Jesus, 404. 

Mary, the Virgin, family and char- 
acter of, 10, 17; visit of angel 
to, 17 ; her piety and discretion, 
18; visits Elisaheth, 19; her 
song, 19; brings Jesus to the 
temple, .32; her modesty and 
humility, .32; her vision of sor- 
row and joy, 30; accompanies 
Joseph to Egypt, 62; her life at 
Nazareth, 64; her wisdom, 73; 
grief at the loss of Jesus, 88; at 
the wedding in Cana, 129; at 
the cross, 30L 

Meekness, 107. 

Memorial, the Lord's Supper a, 328. 

Mercy, 200. 

Messiah, Jews' notion of, .5; Han- 
dors oratorio of, 23 ; Daniel's 
prophecy of, .39; general expec- 
tation of, 94; John proclaims 
the, 97; Peter's confession, 282; 
enthusiasm of the disciples re- 
garding the, 29(). 

Micah, prophesies of Christ, 27, 60. 

Mirabeau, anecdote of, 172. 

Moses, laws for teaching, 75; mira- 
cles of, 258 ; on the Mount, 201. 

Miracles distinguished from won- 
ders, 54 ; not to be invented, 55 ; 
natural to Jesus, 50 ; fasting not 
a, 100; at Cana, 132; at Caper- 
naum, 18^^; defined, 242; de- 
fended, 247; of Jesus, why per- 
formed, 249; why suspended, 
255. 

Mob at Nazareth, 171 ; at Jerusalem, 
225. 

Mohammed, miracles of, 254. 

Money-changers in the temple, 139. 

Mont Blanc, 207. 



Mount, sermon on the, 191 ; of 
Olives, 275; excitement of the 
multitude upon, 297. 

Mourners, 195. 



N. 



Nain, widow of, 253. 

Names, family, among the Jews, 15. 

Napoleon, 173. 

Nathanael called, 119. 

Nature, laws of, fixed, 242; too vast 

for our vision, 245. 
Nazareth, town of, description of, 

66; school at, 77; Jesus cast out 

of the sjTiagogue at, 171. 
Nebuchadnezzar, faith of, in the 

Magi, 38. 
Neronias, 282. 
Nicodomus goes to Jesus by night, 

140; friendly to Jesus, 270; 

lionors Jesus after his death, 

399. 



O. 



Olives, Mount of, 271, 298, 341. 
One hundred and tenth Psalm a 

prophecy of the Messiah, 310. 
Oral law, the, 166, note. 
Orientals, fanaticism of, 296. 



P. 



Palestine, farmers in, 10. 

Panias, 2S1, 282. 

Parables, 179, 230. 305. 

Passover, festival of the, 82; time 

of the, 21U : a family feast, 319. 
Patriotism of Jesus. 278. 
Peace, the song of, 4, 11. 
Persecution, 205. 
Perea, the ancient Gilead, 284. 



INDEX. 



437 



Peter, call of, 117; his wife's mother, 
183; heals lame man, 258; wis- 
nesses the transfiguration, 261; 
in Gethsemane, 341 ; cuts ofE ear 
of high priest's servant, 348; 
" afar off," 358; denies his Mas- 
■ ter, 358; his repentance, 360; at 
the sepulchre, 403 ; at Tiberias, 
418-420. 

Pharisees, 145, 174, 298; the ritual- 
ists of their day, 309. 

Phoenicia, 279. 

Philip called, 118; urges Nathanael 
to go to Jesus, 119. 

Philip of Macedon, anecdote of, 299. 

Philip, son of Herod, 65. 

Philippi, 279. 

Plato, dialogues of, 86; had Jesus 
heard of? 79; his law of love, 
210. 

Pompey, the Roman general, 298. 

Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, 
365 ; converses with Jesus, .367 ; 
sends him to Herod Antipas, 
371 ; submits to the Jewish mob, 
374; receives message from his 
wife, 375; delivers Jesus to be 
scoiu'ged, 376 ; guards the sepul- 
chre with soldiers, 401. 

Poverty, 194. 

Prayer, the Lord's, 212; abuses of, 
212; for the disciples, 335. 

Prodigal son, 236, 285. 

Prophecy of Christ by Isaiah and 
Mi cab, 26, 27. 

Prophet, Jesus a, 161, 

Proselytes, 147. 



Q. 



Quirinius, governor of Syria, 13, 
note. 



E. 



Rabbis as teachers, 77 ; Hillel, 210. 

Rainbow the sign of mercy, 46. 

Raphael's picture of the ISistine Ma- 
donna, 35; of the transfigura- 
tion, 260. 

Reformer, Jesus as a, 325. 

Religious service in Switzerland, 29. 

Resurrection from the dead the 
greatest of wonders, 394; place 
of, in history, 413. 

Romans, hatred of, by Jews, 5 ; power 
of, 220. 

Ruth, ancestress of Mary, 31. 

Rule, Golden, 210. 



S. 



Sabbath, keeping of the, 225. 

Safed, 192. 

Sadducees, the, .308. 

Saints, the communion of, 328. 

Salome at the sepulchre of Jesus, 

401. 
Samaria, region of, 154; Avoman of, 

158. 
Samaritans, the, 1.56; hatred of the 

Jews, 157 ; had no political hopes, 

166. 
Sanhedrim, the, 145; called together 

upon the raising of Lazarus, 228 ; 

Jesus before the, .355 ; attempt to 

silence Peter and John, 406. 
Satan, 108. 
Saul of Tarsus, 413. 
Shechem, the headquarters of the 

Samaritans, 156. 
School-teachers of Judea, dress of, 

79. 
Schools in Judea, 76; at Nazareth, 

77. 
Scribes, the, 306. 



438 



INDEX. 



Sepulchre, the, 399. 

Sermon on the Mount, 190. 

Shepherds, 5, 21 ; could not have im- 
agined the words of the angels, .5. 

Simeon blesses Jesus, 33. 

Simon, the Cyreuian, .388. 

Simon the Pharisee, 184. 

Si.>tine Madonna, Raphael's picture 
of, 35. 

Socrates as teacher, 12. 

Soldiers arrest Jesus, 349. 

Son of God, 274. 

Son, the prodigal, 230, 285. 

Sower, parable of the, 181. 

Spain, Protestant meethig in, 408. 

Spirit. God a, 161. 

Stars, falling, 3; wise men of the 
East study the, 37; temporary, 
41; Kepler s, 43; star of the 
Magi not a miracle, 48. 

Submission of Jesus, 340. 

Supper, the Lord's, 329. 

Switzerland, baptism in, 29. 

Synagogue, description of, 167. 



Tabernacles, feast of, 294, note. 

Tacitus, 398. 

Tares, the, 234. 

Temple, Jesus taken to, 31 ; visits at 
twelve years, 82; sits with the 
doctors in, 85; in the time of 
Christ, 135; sacredness of the, 
l:^»8. 

Tempter, the, 106. 

Theudas, a pretended deliverer, 223. 

Thieves on the cross. 391. 

Thirst, pangs of. 111, 199. 

Thomas the apostle, doubts of, 394, 
410, 413. 

Tiberias, city of, 178. 



" Tit for tat," 217. 

Titus, the Roman general, 298. 

Transfiguration, Raphael's picture of 
the, 260; blending of the natu- 
ral and supernatural in, 261. 

Trial, the, of Jesus, 3;>4. 

Tycho Brahe, 42. 



V. 

Virgin, the, fables relating to, 21. 
Virgins, wise and foolish, 317. 
Virtue, greatness of. 292. 



W. 

Wailing, place of, 203. 

Washing of feet, 3^52. 

Water of life, the, 149. 

Well, Jacob's, 156. 

Wise men of tlie East study the stars, 

37; at Bethlehem, 49; legends 

relating to, 49: their return. 50. 
Witnesses, Jewish law required two, 

360. 
Woman of Samaria, 158; regard of 

Jesus for, 276. 
Wonders, delight of the mind in, 52; 

true and false, 52 ; the Bible not 

a book of, 5:3 ; distinguished from 

miracles, 54. 
Worship, true, 161. 



Zacharias writes the story of Mary's 

visit, 20. 
Zaccheus climbs a tree to see Jesus. 

290. 
Zadok, foimder of the sect of Saddu- 

cees, 308, note. 



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